Go-to-ków-páh-ah, Stands by Himself, a Distinguished Brave
1830
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Accession Number
1985.66.248
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin described the subject as having an âintelligent European head,â and holding a hatchet in his hand. He probably painted this image at Fort Leavenworth (in todayâs Kansas) in 1830. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 47, 1841, reprint 1973, and 1848 Catalogue, Catlinâs Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...