Artwork
Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts - Sioux
Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts - Sioux 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.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left on card: A/489; upper left reverse in graphite: Buffalo chase; upper left reverse in black ink: A/489; center reverse, partially obscured by AMNH label: [illegible]
About this work
Technique & Style
George Catlin's Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts - Sioux, executed in 1861, is an oil painting on canvas that has been mounted on a paperboard support.
George Catlin's Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts - Sioux, executed in 1861, is an oil painting on canvas that has been mounted on a paperboard support. The work measures 45.9 cm in height and 63.8 cm in width, classifying it as a genre scene. As a painted depiction of indigenous life, the piece relies on the traditional handling of oil pigments to render its subject matter within these specific dimensional constraints.
History & Provenance
George Catlin painted Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts - Sioux in 1861. It entered his family by descent to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912 Elizabeth Wing Catlin sold the work to the American Museum of Natural History.
Kennedy Galleries, New York sold it in 1959 to Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Paul Mellon gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1965.
The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it is recorded as accession number 1965.1.11.
Its exhibition history includes a 1965 presentation at the National Gallery of Art following its 1965 gift from Mr. Paul Mellon.
Overview
George Catlin’s 1865 oil painting, Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts – Sioux, portrays a winter hunt on the Great Plains. Mounted on paperboard, the canvas shows Sioux riders on horseback pursuing a lone buffalo through deep snow, one hunter poised with a lance as the animal struggles forward.
Subject & Meaning
The composition records a moment of survival and skill, emphasizing the harsh conditions of a snowbound chase. By focusing on the hunters’ coordinated effort and the buffalo’s resistance, the work underscores the interdependence of Sioux subsistence practices and the formidable environment they navigated.
Context
Created during a period when westward expansion was rapidly altering Native American societies, the work serves as a visual testimony to a way of life that was already in decline. It aligns with Catlin’s broader project of capturing cultural practices before they were irrevocably transformed by settlement and government policy.
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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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