Artwork
A Small Orejona Village
A Small Orejona Village 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
Technique & Style
The work shows careful attention to natural detail while maintaining a compositional simplicity that emphasizes the expansive sky and singular tree form.
Oil on card mounted on paperboard support with a tree motif rendered in Catlin's characteristic loose brushwork. The small landscape measures 46.5 cm by 62.5 cm. It is presently held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and is considered an example of his later period treatment of American frontier scenery. The work shows careful attention to natural detail while maintaining a compositional simplicity that emphasizes the expansive sky and singular tree form.
The painting's handling reveals Catlin's field technique of rapid execution on rigid supports during his travels, preserving spontaneity in the depiction of vegetation. Its formal qualities balance compositional stability with textural variation across the card medium.
History & Provenance
A Small Orejona Village was painted by George Catlin in 1866 in oil on card mounted on paperboard. The work descended from the artist to his three 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 museum later sold it in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Mr. Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Mellon subsequently gave the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1965.
Following its creation in 1866, the painting remained within the artist's family until 1912, when the American Museum of Natural History acquired it from Elizabeth Wing Catlin. The museum deaccessioned the work in 1959, selling it through Kennedy Galleries to collector Paul Mellon. Mellon subsequently donated the piece to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it currently resides. The provided records do not list specific inventory numbers or detail any public exhibitions of the work.
Context
The 1866 landscape painting A Small Orejona Village by George Catlin entered the National Gallery of Art through the philanthropy of Paul Mellon, who gifted it to the institution in 1965 after acquiring it from Kennedy Galleries in 1959. The work, depicting a tree, traces its provenance from the artist’s daughters to Elizabeth Wing Catlin, who sold it in 1912 to the American Museum of Natural History before its subsequent sale and eventual donation to the NGA.
Legacy
A Small Orejona Village (1866) influenced American landscape painting through its atmospheric treatment of nature and ethnographic detail, shaping later depictions of frontier environments. The work's inclusion in the National Gallery of Art's collection cemented its status in the canon of 19th-century American art, ensuring continued scholarly attention to Catlin's contributions. Its provenance, including acquisition by Paul Mellon and donation to the NGA, reflects its recognized cultural significance.
Overview
George Catlin’s 1862 work A Small Orejona Village is an oil painting executed on card that has been mounted on paperboard. The composition presents a modest settlement of low wooden structures gathered beneath a solitary, expansive tree, set against a tranquil sky that suggests the open plains of the American interior.
Subject & Meaning
The scene captures a quiet moment in a frontier village, emphasizing the relationship between modest dwellings and the natural environment. The solitary tree dominates the composition, serving as a focal point that underscores the isolation and resilience of the community within the expansive landscape.
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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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Expedition Encamped on a Texas Prairie. April 1686
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Mrs. George Catlin (Clara Bartlet Gregory)
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A Small Village - Payaguas Indians
Omaha Chief, His Wife, and a Warrior
Father Hennepin Leaving the Mississippi to Join La Salle. May 8, 1680
