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
1985.66.386,593AA
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Mah-to-toh-pa, the Mandan Chief** George Catlin captures the dignified presence of a prominent Mandan leader in a full-length portrait print. George Catlin, a pioneering19th-century American artist dedicated much of his career to documenting American tribes of the Great Plains through realistic portraits and scenes. This graphic arts print, housed in the Smithsonian American Art, exemplifies his commitment to preserving Indigenous cultures amid rapid change from European expansion. The Mandan people, who lived along the Upper Missouri in present-day North Dakota, were known for their fortif...
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 ...