Wash-ka-mon-ya, Fast Dancer, a Warrior
1844-1845
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
1985.66.520
Tags
About this artwork
Fast Dancer was among a group of Iowa warriors and their families who joined George Catlin in London in the 1840s, where the artist had traveled to exhibit and promote his Indian Gallery. The Iowa arrived in London fully equipped with clothing, domestic implements, weapons, canoes, and plenty of face paint. The handprints on Fast Dancerâs chin and cheeks probably signify that he had killed an enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
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 ...