Turtle Hunt

George Catlin painted Turtle Hunt in 1865. The work descended through 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, and it was later sold in 1959 through Kennedy Galleries in New York to Paul Mellon. In 1965 Paul Mellon gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The painting Turtle Hunt is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was acquired by the museum in 1965 as a gift. The work entered the collection through a series of transactions: purchased in 1959 from Kennedy Galleries, New York, by Paul Mellon, and subsequently gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1965. Prior to this, it had descended through the artist’s family and was sold by Elizabeth Wing Catlin in 1912 to the American Museum of Natural History.

The artwork is cataloged under the accession number 1965.10.1 at the National Gallery of Art. It has been part of the museum’s collection since 1965 and has not been documented in major exhibition histories beyond its acquisition and permanent display.

The painting measures 45.5 cm in height and 61.1 cm in width, and is classified as an oil on canvas genre scene depicting a tree.

Painted in 1865, Turtle Hunt exemplifies George Catlin's interest in documenting Indigenous life and natural environments, situating the work within his broader project of recording Native American cultures during westward expansion. The canvas portrays a turtle hunt amidst a dense tree backdrop, blending ethnographic observation with landscape genre painting, reflecting 19th-century artistic engagements with both scientific inquiry and romanticized narratives of the American frontier. Its journey from Catlin's studio to the National Gallery of Art in 1965 underscores its significance within institutional collections, transitioning from private family descent to public stewardship.

George Catlin’s oil on canvas titled Turtle Hunt presents a lively forest tableau in which figures are engaged in the capture of turtles. The composition is anchored by a large tree that frames the activity, emphasizing the natural setting of the hunt.

The work illustrates a communal hunting episode that reflects Indigenous practices of gathering turtles, an activity tied to sustenance and cultural tradition among Native peoples of the American frontier.