| George Catlin |
Article Index for George |
Website Links For George |
Information AboutGeorge Catlin |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GEORGE CATLIN | |
| artists of the american west | |
| catlin, george | |
| american painters | |
| people from jersey city | |
| 1796 births | |
| 1872 deaths | |
|
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 Show s 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 Geroge 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. LEGACY Larry McMurtry includes Catlin as a character in his ''The Berrybender Narratives'' series of novels. SOURCES |
|
|