Portage Around the Falls of Niagara at Table Rock
1847/1848
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 37.8 x 56.2 cm (14 7/8 x 22 1/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CAB
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Paul Mellon Collection
Accession Number
1965.16.318
Art Historical Context
George Catlin's *Portage Around the Falls of Niagara at Table Rock* (1847/1848) captures a dramatic moment at one of North America's natural wonders. Painted in oil on canvas, this intimate work (37.8 x 56.2 cm) depicts the perilous task of portaging—carrying canoes and goods around the thundering Niagara Falls—from the vantage of Table Rock, a famed overlook on the Canadian side. Catlin, a pioneering American artist known for his documentary-style portraits of Native American life, turned his keen eye to this iconic site after years traveling the Western frontier. Completed during the height...
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 ...