Artwork
A Blackfoot Chief, His Wife, and a Medicine Man
A Blackfoot Chief, His Wife, and a Medicine Man is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist George Catlin. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
A Blackfoot Chief, His Wife, and a Medicine Man is an 1865 oil painting on card mounted on paperboard, executed in a portrait genre featuring four figures.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a Blackfoot chief, his wife, a medicine man, and a child, all adorned in traditional Native American attire, emphasizing cultural representation.
Technique & Style
The work employs a Realist approach, characterized by a simple background that focuses attention on the subjects, rendered in oil on a mounted card.
History & Provenance
Created by George Catlin, an American artist who traveled extensively through the American West in the 1830s, documenting Native American life through his art.
Context
Part of Catlin's broader oeuvre on Native American themes, contrasting with his earlier landscape engravings and later lithographic illustrations of different subjects.
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Artist & collection
Artist
George Catlin ( KAT-lin; July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the American frontier.
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