Pa-ris-ka-roó-pa, Two Crows, a Chief
1832
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
1985.66.173
Tags
About this artwork
The subject was dressed, according to George Catlin, in a âhandsome shirt, ornamented with ermine, and necklace of grisly bearsâ claws.â The artist painted this work at a Hidatsa village in 1832. (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlinâs Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)
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 ...