Artwork
Bivouac of a Sioux War Party
Bivouac of a Sioux War Party 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.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left on card: A/106; upper center on board on applied paper: 408
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in 1865, this work is an oil painting applied on a card support mounted onto paperboard. The composition features a tree as a depicted element within a genre scene. The piece measures 47.2 cm in height and 62.3 cm in width and is classified as a painting.
History & Provenance
George Catlin executed Bivouac of a Sioux War Party in 1865 as an oil painting on card mounted to paperboard.
George Catlin executed Bivouac of a Sioux War Party in 1865 as an oil painting on card mounted to paperboard. Following the artist's death in 1872, the work remained within his family, passing by descent to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912 the American Museum of Natural History acquired the piece from Elizabeth Wing Catlin.
The museum sold the painting in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries of New York to Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, who donated it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it is catalogued under accession number 1965.16.
Overview
Created in 1865, Bivouac of a Sioux War Party is an oil painting executed on card that has been mounted on a paperboard support. The work presents a small group of Sioux warriors gathered beside a solitary tree, suggesting a temporary camp in the open landscape.
Subject & Meaning
The composition captures a moment of rest for a war party, emphasizing the relationship between the warriors and their natural surroundings. By focusing on a bivouac rather than battle, the image conveys a quieter aspect of Sioux life on the plains, highlighting endurance and communal pause.
Context
The work belongs to a broader 19th‑century American interest in portraying Native American societies amid westward expansion. Catlin’s oeuvre, including this piece, served both as ethnographic record and as visual commentary on a rapidly changing frontier.
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
Spearing by Moonlight - Chaco
Nayas Village at Night
Spearing by Torchlight
Nayas Village at Sunset
View of the Manor of Dronninggaard across Lake Fure, North Zealand.
A Crow Village and the Salmon River Mountains
Late Evening near Himmelbjerget, Jutland
Salmon River Mountains
Lake in the mountains
Salmon Spearing - Ottowas