Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle. March 20, 1682

George Catlin painted Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle. March 20, 1682 in 1847, as documented by its inception date. The work originated as part of Catlin’s personal collection and remained in his family after his death in 1872, passing to his daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin.

In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History acquired the painting from Elizabeth Wing Catlin. It remained in the museum’s possession until 1959, when it was sold via Kennedy Galleries, New York, to collector Paul Mellon. Mellon subsequently donated the painting to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it resides today.

The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. It entered the NGA in 1965 as a gift from Mr. Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Mellon had acquired the work in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York, purchasing it from the American Museum of Natural History.

The museum had itself obtained the painting in 1912, buying it from Elizabeth Wing Catlin, one of George Catlin's three daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin, who inherited it from the artist. The sources do not record any specific exhibition history or inventory/accession number for the work.

Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle, painted in 1847 by George Catlin, exemplifies his later history‑painting practice that combined ethnographic observation with romantic narrative. Executed in oil on canvas (42 × 60.3 cm), the work was classified as a history painting and depicts a house and a tree, subjects recorded in the artist’s documentation of Native American encounters. After passing through Catlin’s descendants and a 1959 sale to Paul Mellon, the painting entered the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1965.

Art historical analysis situates the piece within Catlin’s broader effort to document frontier subjects, reflecting 19th‑century American interests in indigenous peoples.

Created in 1848 by American artist George Catlin, Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle. March 20, 1682 is an oil on canvas painting. This work portrays a historical moment: the 1682 meeting between French explorer La Salle and a leader of the Taensa people.

The composition features two figures engaged in a handshake, set against an outdoor backdrop with a wooden house and a prominent tree, characteristic of Catlin's focus on frontier interactions.

The painting visually reconstructs a significant encounter from March 20, 1682, showing a Taensa chief, identifiable by a feathered headdress, greeting French explorer La Salle, who wears a dark coat. While depicting a historical event, Catlin incorporated contemporary elements; the Native attire reflects styles from the 1840s rather than the late 17th century. This work exemplifies Catlin's ongoing dedication to illustrating the interactions and cultural exchanges occurring on the American frontier.