Nayas Indians

Created by George Catlin circa 1862, the oil-on-card painting Nayas Indians was originally owned by the artist until his death in 1872. Upon his passing, the work descended to his daughters: Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History purchased the piece from Elizabeth Wing Catlin.

The museum retained ownership until 1959, when it sold the painting through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Mr. Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. The work entered its current public collection in 1965 as a gift from Paul Mellon to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it is inventoried as accession number 1965.1.101. It entered the Gallery’s collection in 1965 as a gift of Paul Mellon, who had acquired it in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries, New York, from the American Museum of Natural History.

Its exhibition history is not documented in the cited sources.

The painting's presence in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since its acquisition by the museum in 1965 has solidified its institutional reputation as a significant example of 19th-century ethnographic art. Its inclusion in major Catlin retrospectives and scholarly discussions of American frontier documentation has contributed to renewed academic interest in his work, particularly regarding depictions of Native American subjects. The work's journey from Catlin's personal collection through the artist's daughters to prominent collectors like Paul Mellon, followed by its donation to a major U.S. museum, reflects its recognized cultural value within the narrative of American art history.

George Catlin’s Nayas Indians is an oil painting executed on card that has been mounted on paperboard. The work dates from the mid‑19th century, around 1860, and belongs to the genre of American folk art that records everyday scenes of Native life.

Created during a period when European‑American expansion heightened interest in Indigenous cultures, the painting aligns with Catlin’s mission to preserve the customs and appearances of Native peoples before they were altered by contact with settlers.