Artwork
A Connibo Wigwam
A Connibo Wigwam is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist George Catlin. It dates from 1862 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Look for another wigwam by Catlin at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
You see a wigwam made of bark and hides set in a forest. Catlin painted this in 1854 but finished it later, on a small card. The tree behind it leans left, its bark rough and detailed.
Catlin spent years traveling to paint Native American life. This scene shows a simple shelter, not a grand home. The colors feel muted, like the woods on a cloudy day.
Look for another wigwam by Catlin at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
History & Provenance
Painted by George Catlin in 1861, the work is an oil painting on card mounted on paperboard. Following the artist's death in 1872, the piece passed by descent to his daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History purchased the painting from Elizabeth Wing Catlin.
The institution subsequently sold the work in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. The painting entered the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as a gift from Mellon in 1965.
Following its creation in 1861, the painting remained within the artist George Catlin's family, passing to his daughters upon his death. The American Museum of Natural History acquired the work from daughter Elizabeth Wing Catlin in 1912. In 1959, the museum sold the piece through Kennedy Galleries of New York to collector Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia.
Mellon subsequently donated the artwork to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it currently resides.
No specific exhibition history for this work is provided in the available records.
Overview
A Connibo Wigwig, executed in oil on a small card mounted to paperboard, presents a modest bark-and-hide shelter nestled within a forested setting. The composition is dominated by a solitary tree whose weathered trunk leans leftward, its bark rendered with careful attention to texture. Muted earth tones convey the subdued light of an overcast woodland.
Subject & Meaning
The work portrays a single Connibo wigwam, a temporary dwelling used by certain Plains peoples, positioned amid a natural landscape rather than a ceremonial or communal space. By focusing on this humble structure, the artist emphasizes everyday life and the intimate relationship between the inhabitants and their environment.
Technique & Style
Painted on a compact card that was later affixed to a sturdier paperboard support, the piece employs thin oil layers to achieve a soft, atmospheric effect. The brushwork on the tree bark is fine and stippled, contrasting with broader, smoother passages that define the wigwam’s thatched walls, creating a balance between detail and overall mood.
Context
Created during the later phase of the painter’s career, the piece diverges from his earlier, more formal portraiture of individual Native figures. Instead, it aligns with his broader interest in documenting the varied aspects of frontier life, offering a visual record of indigenous architecture amid the expanding American West.
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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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