Wounded Buffalo Bull Surrounded by White Wolves
1832-1833
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
1985.66.468
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin sketched this scene on the Upper Missouri River in 1832. While he insisted that his images were accurate documents of what he saw, it is clear that Catlin’s artistic eye led him to edit his compositions. Here he chose to position the buffalo so that its rounded form echoes the hills in the distance.Catlin was horrified at what the wolves had done to the bull, noting that the animal’s eyes “were entirely eaten out of his head---the grizzle of his nose was mostly gone---his tongue wa...
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 ...