Mah-to-toh-pa, the Mandan Chief
Medium
Graphic Arts-Print
Classification
Graphic Arts-Print
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Museum of Natural History, Department of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
1985.66.386,593U
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Catlin's *Mah-to-toh-pa, the Mandan Chief* the dignified presence of a prominent leader from the Mandan tribe, in a full-length portrait. As a pioneering 19th-century American artist Catlin dedicated much of his career to documenting Native American cultures through realistic, ethnographic portraits. This graphic arts print, likely derived from his original oil paintings created during his travels along the Upper Missouri River in the 1830s, showcases his commitment to preserving the likenesses and regalia of peoples before widespread cultural disruption. The artwork holds profound his...
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 ...