La Salle's Party Feasted in the Illinois Village. January 2, 1680

George Catlin painted La Salle's Party Feasted in the Illinois Village, January 2, 1680 in 1850, working in oil on card mounted on paperboard. The work remained in the artist's possession during his lifetime and descended to his 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 gave the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 1965, where it remains in the collection.

La Salle's Party Feasted in the Illinois Village. January 2, 1680 is currently held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The work entered the museum's collection in 1965 as a gift from Paul Mellon, who had previously purchased it in 1959 from Elizabeth Wing Catlin through Kennedy Galleries in New York. Prior to Mellon's acquisition, the painting was owned by the American Museum of Natural History, which bought it in 1912 from the artist's daughter. The artwork was created by George Catlin in 1850 and depicts a historical scene involving a tree.

While the provenance details the transfer of ownership from the Catlin family to major institutions, the provided sources do not record any specific exhibition history for this work.

The painting was acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 1965 and remains in its collection, where it is recognized as part of Catlin's history painting series. Its depiction of a tree, rendered in oil on canvas, continues to inform scholarship on early American ethnographic art. The work's provenance traces from Catlin's descendants to the museum through documented sales and gifts, underscoring its significance in the study of 19th-century American art.

George Catlin’s 1848 oil work, titled La Salle’s Party Feasted in the Illinois Village. January 2, 1680, portrays a communal meal set against a village landscape. Executed on card affixed to paperboard, the composition centers on a single tree beneath which figures gather around a table, engaging in conversation and dining.

Set during the winter of 1680, the painting situates La Salle’s party within an Illinois village, offering a visual record of early colonial encounters. The inclusion of native architecture and surrounding trees provides a contextual backdrop that underscores the meeting of European explorers with established Native settlements.