Mouth of the Rio Purus

The painting Mouth of the Rio Purus was created by George Catlin in 1862. It passed into the artist's estate upon his death in 1872 and descended to his daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912 it was purchased from Elizabeth Wing Catlin by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and sold in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries, New York, to Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia.

Mellon gifted it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it is accessioned as 1965.13.1.

Mouth of the Rio Purus entered the National Gallery of Art in 1965 as a gift from Paul Mellon, becoming part of its permanent collection; originally painted in 1862, the work was acquired by the American Museum of Natural History in 1912 from the artist's daughters, then sold in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries to Paul Mellon before its donation. The oil on cardboard, measuring 47 × 62.7 cm, depicts a boat and a tree, motifs characteristic of George Catlin's Amazonian subjects, and its display at the museum helps sustain his reputation as a pioneering explorer-artist.

This painting, Mouth of the Rio Purus, was created by American artist George Catlin in 1862. Executed in oil on card mounted on paperboard, the work presents a verdant river landscape. It features a small boat positioned near gnarled trees along a muddy bank, with sunlight illuminating the vessel while the foliage remains in shadow. This piece reflects Catlin's lifelong practice of documenting diverse environments encountered during his extensive travels.

George Catlin, originally trained in law, became renowned for his extensive visual record of Native American cultures across the American frontier. While this Amazonian landscape diverges from his ethnographic portraits, it aligns with his broader commitment to documenting diverse geographies. His earlier expeditions included chronicling sites along the Erie Canal and the American West, often disseminating his observations through published lithographic books. This later work expands his repertoire to include pure landscape studies from his global explorations.