Te-ah'-ke-ra-lée-re-coo, The Cheyenne, a Republican Pawnee
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
1985.66.107
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin described The Cheyenne as a “fine-looking fellow, with a pipe in one hand and his whip in the other.” This portrait reveals Catlin’s working methods in the West, in which he would sketch the entire figure in brown, model the details of the head and torso, and often leave the rest of the body unfinished. The Pawnee shown here wears a peace medal around his neck, suggesting that he was among those who traveled to Washington during the government’s campaign to win alliances among the ...
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 ...