Lac du Cygne (Swan Lake), Near the Coteau des Prairies
1836-1837
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
1985.66.348
Tags
About this artwork
âAfter having glutted our curiosity at the fountain of the Red Pipe, our horses brought us to the base of the Coteau, and then over the extended plain that lies between that and the Traverse de Sioux, on the St. Peters . . . In this distance we passed some of the loveliest prairie country in the world, and I made a number of sketches--- âLaque du Cygne, Swan Lake,â was a peculiar and lovely scene, extending for many miles, and filled with innumerable small islands covered with a profusion ...
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 ...