Osceola Nick-a-no-chee, a Boy
1840
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
1985.66.386,307 1/2
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlinâs Indian Gallery attracted attention in New York and other eastern cities, but not enough paying customers to support the artist and his family. In November 1839, Catlin sailed for England in hopes of generating increased receipts and perhaps selling the Indian Gallery to a wealthy aristocrat. Nick-a-no-chee, a Seminole who was thought to be a nephew of the great Osceola, was a ready subject of sympathy in Britain, where the Indian policies of the United States were roundly conde...
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 ...