"Paint Me" - Apachee

In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History purchased the painting directly from Elizabeth Wing Catlin, bringing it into a major institutional collection.

Painted in 1867 by George Catlin, the oil-on-card portrait of the Mandan leader known as "Paint Me" (Apachee) remained in the artist's possession during his lifetime. Following Catlin's death in 1872, the work descended to his three daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin, passing through the family by inheritance. In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History purchased the painting directly from Elizabeth Wing Catlin, bringing it into a major institutional collection.

It remained there until 1959, when the museum sold it through Kennedy Galleries in New York to the collector Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Six years later, in 1965, Mellon transferred the work to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as a gift, where it has since been held.

Following its creation in 1867, the work remained within the artist George Catlin's family, passing to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. The American Museum of Natural History acquired the painting from Elizabeth Wing Catlin in 1912. In 1959, the museum sold the piece through Kennedy Galleries in New York to collector Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia.

Mellon subsequently donated the artwork to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it currently resides. No specific exhibition history is documented in the provided records.