Hidatsa Village, Earth-covered Lodges, on the Knife River, 1810 Miles above St. Louis
1832
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
1985.66.383
Tags
About this artwork
As George Catlin journeyed up the Missouri River, he wrote that the scenery was “quite peculiar and curious; rendered extremely so by the continual wild and garrulous groups of men, women, and children . . . dashing and plunging through its blue waves, enjoying the luxury of swimming, of which both sexes seem to be passionately fond.” In this image Catlin contrasted the stillness of those watching from the bluffs with the exuberance of the swimmers, one of whom plunges into the water as his comr...
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 ...