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
1985.66.386,593Z
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, one of the Native American peoples of the Northern Plains. Rendered as a full-length in the medium of graphic arts print, this work likely reproduces one of Catlin's original paintings, showcasing his meticulous attention to tribal regalia, posture, and expression. Catlin, a pioneering 19th-century artist, dedicated his career to documenting Indigenous cultures through hundreds of portraits and scenes, creating an invaluable visual record before widespread European-American enc...
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 ...