Artwork
An Old Nayas Indian, His Granddaughter, and a Boy
An Old Nayas Indian, His Granddaughter, and a Boy is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist George Catlin. It dates from 1862 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in 1875, this portrait utilizes oil paint applied to a card support, which is subsequently mounted onto paperboard.
Executed in 1875, this portrait utilizes oil paint applied to a card support, which is subsequently mounted onto paperboard. The work measures 47.5 cm in height and 64 cm in width. As a painting within the portrait genre, the piece presents a figurative composition featuring three subjects: an elderly Nayas man, a young boy, and his granddaughter.
The physical construction involves the layering of the painted card onto a stiffer backing board, a method characteristic of certain studio practices of the period.
History & Provenance
An Old Nayas Indian, His Granddaughter, and a Boy is an 1875 oil on card mounted on paperboard portrait by George Catlin. After the artist’s death the work passed to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin, and was purchased in 1912 from Elizabeth Wing Catlin by the American Museum of Natural History. It was later sold in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries, New York, to Paul Mellon and gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1965.
An Old Nayas Indian, His Granddaughter, and a Boy is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. It entered the collection in 1965 as a gift from Mr. Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia.
The painting's provenance traces from the artist George Catlin to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin by descent. The American Museum of Natural History purchased it in 1912 from Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1959, the museum sold it through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Paul Mellon, who donated it to the NGA six years later.
No exhibition history is documented in the available sources.
Overview
George Catlin’s 1862 oil painting on card, mounted to paperboard, depicts an elderly Native man, his granddaughter, and a young boy positioned in a modest outdoor setting. The composition presents the trio against a muted, hazy landscape of grass and sparse vegetation, rendered in soft blues and greens that recede into the background.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, an older man adorned with a traditional headdress and holding a spear, is flanked by a young woman carrying a feathered object on her back and a child crouching beside her. The grouping suggests a familial relationship and conveys a moment of everyday life within a Plains Indian community, emphasizing continuity across generations.
Context
The painting belongs to a broader body of work produced by Catlin to preserve the appearance and customs of Plains tribes at a time when their societies were undergoing rapid change. It aligns with his earlier endeavors, such as detailed engravings of New York scenery and contributions to early lithographic publications, illustrating his versatile artistic practice.
Own this work as a print
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.
Bulls Fighting
Expedition Encamped on a Texas Prairie. April 1686
An Alligator's Nest
Mrs. George Catlin (Clara Bartlet Gregory)
Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle. March 20, 1682
A Small Village - Payaguas Indians
Omaha Chief, His Wife, and a Warrior
Father Hennepin Leaving the Mississippi to Join La Salle. May 8, 1680
