Portraits of a Grizzly Bear and Mouse, Life Size
1846-1848
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
1985.66.603
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin included two grizzly bears in the eight tons of material for his Indian Gallery that he brought to England in 1839. But the bears were destructive pests and Catlin eventually sold them to Londonâs Zoological Gardens in October, 1840. European audiences had to content themselves with life-size portraits such as this, in which the presence of a familiar, if bold, little mouse establishes the bearâs huge size.
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 ...