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Indian Paintings by George Catlin Department of Art Colorado State University

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Indian Paintings by George Catlin Department of Art Colorado State University INDIAN PAINTINGS BY GEORGE CATLIN DEPARTMENT OF ART COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY INDIAN PAINTINGS BY GEORGE CATLIN 1796-1872 INTRODUCTION BY SHIRLEY SCOTT SIMPSON SEPTEMBER 1 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 1967 DEPARTMENT OF ART, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY, FORT COLLINS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This exhibition o( George Catlin paintings comes to Colorado State. University through the courtesy and cooperation of the Division of Cultural Anthropology, and the National Collection of Fine Arts, of the Sl\IITHSONIAN INSTITUTION in Washington, D. C. Special thanks are extended to Dr. David W. Scott, Director of the National Collection of Fine Arts; Dr. William C. Sturtevant, Curator of the Division of Cultural Antlu-opology; and 1\'Ir. William Trueuner, A8sistant Curator of Painting and Sculpture; for their kind assistance in arranging this exhibition. At the University level the support and help of Dr. Ray Chamberlain, Vice President for Adtninistration; Dr. George G. Olson, Vice President for Finance; l\Ir. Ricltard Sie,·er, Assistant to the President; and Dr. Daryl B. Simons, Associate Dean of the College o( Engineering; have been essential to the success of the George Catlin Exhibition. A special exprt;ssion of appreciation and thanks is extended to members of the Department of Art faculty for their assistance in preparing the catalogue and exhibit, particular thanks going to l\frs. Shirley Scott Simpson for her fine biographical statement and bibliography on George Catlin, and ;-.Jr. John Sorbic (or his design of the catalogue, posters publicizing the exhibit, and other publicity materials. Perry Ragouzis, Chairman Department of Art Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado INTRODUCTION Historian-ethnologist armed with paintbrush and pen, a man of foresight, dctcnnin­ ation. and ideals whose steps were dogged by misfortune, misunderstanding. and mis· judgement-this was George Catlin. As so often happens, his one great dream came true-after his death. The foundations he laid as the basis for this dream, howe,·cr, label him as a man far ahead of his time, a man who would allow nothing to interfere with the achievement of his goal. On July 26, 1796, in \Vilkes-Barre, J>ennsyh•ania. Putnam and Polly Sutton Catlin became the parents of their fifth child, a son they named George. Nine other childt·cn were born into the Callin famil~ during the next nineteen years, but none ever approache~l the fame and rqnuation of George. Somcrimc during 1800 or 1801 , rhc family moYcd to a fann in rhe Onaqu;-~gua Valley, along rhc Susquehanna RiYcr in 1\cw York. From early childhood, Gl·orgc had I.J ccn exposed to tail's of Indians told h) ria· old seu lcrs. humcrs. and soldiers who would SlOp at the Catlin farm. Indian :uhenrurcs were parr of the family tradition­ both his mother and grandmother had hcen taken pri'ioncr b) Indians during the \V)oming Valley ( J>enn:,)h·o.mia) .\lassacre of 1778. There Wt're Oneida Indians frc­ t(ucnting the Onaquagua \ ·aile) during Gt.•orge\ ho)hood, and George himself ~~~ ~Ill'S , "The plows in my father's field wen: dail) turning up Indian skulls or Indi:111 bonl''i, and Indian flint an-ow-heads."l Around the year 1810. Putnam Catlin moved the family to another fann loGitcd ncar Hopi.Jouom, Penns) IY ania. Prior to the next move, to .\lontrose, Pennsyl\'ania, in 1817. George spent a winter reaching in a o ne-room schoolhouse for the munilicent salary of eight dollars per month. George had h imself been educated at the typical one-room sdwolhouse and had altendcd the academy at \ Vilkes-Bane. During lhis pt·r iod of his )Outll. the boy showed con:,iderably more aptitude in woodsmanship rhan in academic studies. .\lso, at this time, he de,eloped an interest and definite abilit) in the art of portraiture. Putnam Catlin (a lawyer by profession). however, held high hopes for his son and finally <.onvinced George that the study of law was the appropriarc channel for his CIH.' rgic"J . .-\cnlnlingl). George oucrecl Litchfield (Connecticut) Law School in July. 181 i. at the age of twent)·One. He did well enough in his studieo; to be admitted to the bar in Connecticut in September. 1818: whereupon he returned to Pennsylvania, pa:,:,cd the har examination at \Vilkes-Harrc in December, l8J8, and set up his practice in Luterne Count)· Penns) lvania. Until 1823. George cons<.ientiously artcnded to his law practice, probably more to please his father than with any personal sat.isfaction in mind. The urge to paint , however. h) now had become too strong to resist, ;.ul<l "I very deliberately resolved to conn..· rt my law libraq into paint pots and brushes, and to pursue painting as my future. and :tpparentl) more agreeable profession.".: Philadelphia beckoned as the c. ultural and artistic center of rhe United State~ . and it was there thal George Catlin nw,ed in 1823. He took wirh him a numUe.- of watercolor miniatw·es which were an indicarion of his abilit~. and he was soon as~ociating with such luminaries of the pornait-painting ,,·orld as Rembrandt Peale. Thomas Sully, and John Nagle. In a short time, he Wii S recei,·ing commissions fur portrairs and was honored in February, 1 Gcorgc Callin . L ast Hambl~s A mongst lhe l nclum.s of t h ~ Horky .\lou/Itaim aml the Aml~s ( :\cw Yorl.. : D. Applelon & Com pan). 186i), p. 10. :q homas Don ~ l dso n, ... , he George Call in Indian Gall er' in Lh c U. S. :\" a lio nal Museum," in Annual Report of the Smrthsoman l mtztuiiOrl for 188), p. i 06. 1824, by being elected to the Academy of Fine Arts. :\lembership in the Academy led to an increasing number of important commissions and considerable fame as a portraitist. By 1826, George Catlin was an artist of high repute receiving conunissions from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In spite of his blossoming career, he became aware of the fact .that there must be more satisfying work than reproducing the likenesses of the political and social elite of the large cities of the eastern seaboard. Despite the success of the past two years, portrait painting was a highly compclitivc business, and Catlin realized that his self-taught talent would never allow him access to the first rank of portraitists. He must seek a type of painting which would bring hUn enduring fame and, hopefully, fortune. Catlin suddenly receiv<..-"<l the inspiration for his life's wOrk when he saw· a delegation of Indians from the Great Plains passing through Philadelphia on its way to \Vashington on treaty business. The decision was made. He would paint t.he Indian tribes of the Great Plains and preserve their like­ nesses, customs, and artifacts for all time. Catlin foresaw that the Indian way of life was doomed by the encroachment of civilization, and he felt that "the history a nd customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations, are lhemes wot·thy of the lifetime of one ma n, and nothing short of the loss of my life shall prevent me from visiting their country, and of becoming their historian."3 Impulsive though he was, George knew that a considerable amount of money would be required for this monumental project; therefore, he remained in Philadelphia and continued painting portraits in order to accumulate the necessary capital. It was during this time, on .1\lay 10, 1828, that he manied Clara Gregory, daughter of a wealthy Albany, New York, family. Catlin's father, who was somewhat shaken by his son's plans for immortality, felt that marriage would force George to abandon his scheme and settle down to a life of pampered ease as a famous portrait artist. l-Ie wrote George, "I will anticipate seeing you very happy as a husband, with a wife looking over your shoulder, encouraging and admiring the arts ... In your room, and in your little parlour by your own fireside }'OU will find contentment and solace, no where else."' George, however, was not the type to a llow any interference with his plans. His course of action, once determined, would not be altered. In the spring of 18:!0, George Catlin anived in St. Lo uis with letters of introduction to General \Villiam Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, whose permission was needed to travel into Indian country. General Clark invited Catlin to accompany him on a trip up the Mississippi River to Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien (\Visconsin) to attend councils with representatives of the Iowa, ~lissouri , Sauk, a nd Fox tribes in the summer of 1830. This invitation was eagerly accepted, and Catlin acquired the paintings and notes which were to form the beginnings of Catlin's Indian· Gallery and the books he later published. Later that sa1nc summer, George also traveled with General C lark to Cantonment Leavenworth on the lower ~lississippi River and took this oppm·tunity to paint the Shawnee, Iowa, Delaware, Sauk, Fox, Kaskaskia, and Kickapoo. \Vhenever the time allowed, he also accepted commissions to paint por­ traits of the citizens of St. Louis and other towns. He returned to \Vashington in the fall of 1830 and rejoined his wife. It should be noted that Catlin employed two distinct styles in his paintings of the Indians. These have come to be called his "studio-portrait" style and his "field­ sketching" style.:. The studio-portrait st) le, as the term implies, was utilized when the aceorge Catlin. Letters (lml Notes 011 the Man11ers, Customs, and Co11dition of the North Amenca11 Indians, Vol. II (London: published by the author, 1841 ), P- 2.
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