Artwork
Buffalo Chase, Sioux Indians, Upper Missouri
Buffalo Chase, Sioux Indians, Upper Missouri is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist George Catlin. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created in 1865, this oil painting on card, later mounted on paperboard, captures a dynamic buffalo hunt on the Upper Missouri River.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left on card: A/99; upper center on board in pink paint: 270; lower right on board on small piece of white paper, mechanically printed numeral: 8; reverse in graphite: 266
About this work
Technique & Style
Handling appears intact, with no visible abrasion in the paint layer, suggesting the work has undergone stabilization consistent with its institutional history.
Executed in oil on card mounted on paperboard, the work measures 46.9 cm in height and 62.5 cm in width. Catlin’s handling is fluid and descriptive, employing broad, confident brushwork to render the dynamic figures and sweeping landscape with immediacy rather than fine detail. The composition emphasizes the chase’s motion through diagonal lines of riders and buffalo, while stylized elements, such as the rhythmic grouping of horses and the schematic rendering of tipis, convey a generalized, romanticized vision of Plains life.
Handling appears intact, with no visible abrasion in the paint layer, suggesting the work has undergone stabilization consistent with its institutional history.
History & Provenance
Buffalo Chase, Sioux Indians, Upper Missouri was created by George Catlin in 1861, executed in oil on card mounted on paperboard. The work remained in the artist's possession and was passed by descent 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 Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Mellon subsequently gave the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1965, where it has since remained in the collection.
Buffalo Chase, Sioux Indians, Upper Missouri is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work entered the museum's holdings in 1965 as a gift from Paul Mellon. Prior to this acquisition, the painting was sold in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Mellon, having previously been purchased by the American Museum of Natural History in 1912 from the artist's daughter, Elizabeth Wing Catlin.
No specific exhibition history or inventory accession number for the work is provided in the available sources.
Overview
Created in 1865, this oil painting on card, later mounted on paperboard, captures a dynamic buffalo hunt on the Upper Missouri River. A Sioux rider, adorned with a feathered headdress and brandishing a spear, charges across a grassy plain while a herd of bison and several horses flee. The composition is framed by a brown‑green border and set against a light‑blue sky dotted with clouds.
Subject & Meaning
The work records a moment of traditional Plains hunting, emphasizing the relationship between the Sioux people and the bison that sustained them. The rider’s forward thrust and the panicked animals convey both the vigor of the chase and the cultural significance of the hunt as a communal, subsistence activity.
Context
At the time of its creation, the buffalo hunt was rapidly disappearing due to expanding settlement and government policies. Catlin’s depiction thus serves as both a contemporary observation and a historical testimony, offering insight into a way of life on the brink of transformation.
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.
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