United States Military Academy at West Point, Looking North
ca. 1828
Medium
Watercolor on ivory
Dimensions
7/8 x 1 1/2 in. (2.3 x 3.8 cm)
Classification
Painting, miniature
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Gloria Manney, 2006
Accession Number
2006.235.253
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Catlin's *United States Military Academy at West Point, Looking North (ca. 1828) offers a charming, intimate glimpse into early 19th-century American life. This watercolor on ivory miniature, measuring a mere 7/8 x 1 1/2 inches, captures a northward vista of the prestigious U.S. Military Academy perched above the Hudson River. Delicate details like obelisks and flags symbols of national pride and discipline, evoking the academy's role as a cradle of American leadership since its founding in 1802. Catlin, later renowned for his vivid portraits of Native American subjects, demonstrated h...
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 ...