Artwork
Snow Shoe Dance - Ojibbeway
Snow Shoe Dance - Ojibbeway is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist George Catlin. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art. Created in 1865, Snow Shoe Dance – Ojibbeway is an oil painting on card that has been mounted on paperboard.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This work depicts Ojibwe performers engaged in a ceremonial dance on snowshoes, reflecting the winter travel and hunting practices of the Great Lakes region.
This work depicts Ojibwe performers engaged in a ceremonial dance on snowshoes, reflecting the winter travel and hunting practices of the Great Lakes region. The snowshoes evoke adaptation to harsh northern climates and traditions tied to seasonal movement. Painted by George Catlin in 1865, the work documents Indigenous ceremonial life drawn from the artist's earlier field observations among Native nations.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil on card mounted on paperboard, in a realistic genre style that documents a ceremonial scene. Catlin's handling favors careful modeling of the figures and their costumes, and the composition centers on the rhythmic motion of the snowshoe-wearing dancers, their bodies angled to suggest movement within a shallow, stage-like space.
History & Provenance
George Catlin painted this work in 1865. It remained in his family after his death, passing by descent to his daughters Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. Elizabeth Wing Catlin sold it in 1912 to the American Museum of Natural History, which sold it in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Paul Mellon; Mellon gave the work to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1965, where it remains.
The painting is recorded as an oil on card mounted on paperboard, measuring 46.5 cm in height and 62 cm in width. No specific exhibition history is detailed in the available sources.
Legacy
Snow Shoe Dance – Ojibbeway belongs to George Catlin's extensive documentation of Native American life and is held by the National Gallery of Art, which acquired it in 1965. As part of Catlin's body of work depicting Indigenous ceremonial practice, it contributes to the study of his role in the history of nineteenth-century American depictions of Native nations.
Overview
Created in 1865, Snow Shoe Dance – Ojibbeway is an oil painting on card that has been mounted on paperboard. The work portrays a winter gathering of Ojibwe participants performing a traditional dance, set against a pale blue backdrop that conveys the chill of the season. It is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
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Artist & collection
Artist
George Catlin ( KAT-lin; July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the American frontier.
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