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George Catlin (1796 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – December 23, 1872 in Jersey City, New Jersey) was an American painter who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West. He was the fifth of 14 children. Both his mother and grandmother had been captives of Indians.
Catlin left a law career to paint Native Americans and "to rescue from oblivion their primitive looks and customs." He taught himself painting and painted indians he met in St. Louis or on excursions into Indian country, sketching and painting some 600 Indian portraits, scenes of native life and landscapes. He also documented his paintings with notes on customs of the approximate 48 tribes he contacted..
Catlin formed some of the earliest Wild West Shows in order to highlight the plight of the Native Americans and show their culture. He travelled the United States east coast and Europe with his shows, showing his paintings, so-called Catlin Cartoon Collection. Bankrupt by 1852, he sold his works to a private collector, Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. whose heirs later donated them to the Smithsonian. After the bankruptcy, Catlin travelled widely in the American West and in South America.
His works are the only known portrayals of some western tribes, including the bulk of those of the Mandan tribe, which he believed was descended from the Welsh.
Family
Many historians and descendants believe George Catlin had two families; his proper family on the east coast of the United States, but also a family farther west, started with a Native American woman.
Two other master artists of the Old West related to George Catlin by family bloodlines are Frederic Remington and Earl W. Bascom.
Fiction
Larry McMurtry includes Catlin as a character in his The Berrybender Narratives series of novels.
Sources
See also
External links
- Artcyclopedia listing
- George Catlin and his Indian Gallery
- Catlin multimedia
- Catlin's Notes and Letters
- Brief biography of Catlin
- A kid-friendly introduction to George Catlin, along with a discussion of some well-known Catlin paintings in the National Gallery of Art,a brief biography of the artist, and related activities suitable for young readers.
- Sample of works held by Gilcrease Museum.
"George Catlin"