Who painted View of "Pike's Tent"?

View of "Pike's Tent" was painted by George Catlin in 1865.

Where can I see View of "Pike's Tent"?

View of "Pike's Tent" is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is View of "Pike's Tent"?

View of "Pike's Tent" is associated with Impressionism.

Can I buy a print of View of "Pike's Tent"?

Museum-quality prints of View of "Pike's Tent" are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

View of "Pike's Tent" by George Catlin (1865)

About this work

Overview

It depicts a distinctive geological formation along the Mississippi River, capturing a landscape Catlin identified as the most elevated bluff on the waterway.

View of "Pike's Tent" is an oil painting on card mounted on paperboard, created by the American artist George Catlin in 1865. Measuring 38 by 59 centimeters, the work belongs to Catlin's later series known as the Cartoon Collection, which documented Indigenous portraits, genre scenes, and western landscapes. The painting is currently held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, having entered the museum's collection as a gift from Paul Mellon in 1965. It depicts a distinctive geological formation along the Mississippi River, capturing a landscape Catlin identified as the most elevated bluff on the waterway.

Subject & Meaning

The painting portrays a steep, conical green mountain rising prominently beside a wide river, identified by Catlin as the most elevated bluff on the Mississippi. A small canoe carrying two figures floats on the calm water in the lower center, providing a sense of scale against the dominating landscape. Dense green vegetation covers the mountain slopes, while patches of lighter green and yellow on the peak suggest the effects of sunlight. Trees and low vegetation line the riverbank at the mountain's base. When Catlin exhibited the Cartoon Collection in New York in 1871, he published a catalog listing the works, assigning this painting the number 239 and formally naming the location as Pike's Tent.

Technique & Style

Catlin executed the work in oil on card mounted on paperboard, employing a centered and symmetrical composition that emphasizes the mountain in the middle ground. His palette consists mainly of muted greens, soft yellows, and pale grays. The sky features horizontal bands of gray and soft pink, contributing to a hazy, atmospheric effect. Catlin's brushwork appears smooth and blended, minimizing sharp detail in favor of a unified, diffused landscape. The physical mount includes a greenish mat with a narrow brown inner border, a small label reading 239 at the top center corresponding to the 1871 exhibition catalog, and a stamp reading A 322 at the lower left.

History & Provenance

Created in 1865, the painting was part of Catlin's Cartoon Collection, a second major body of work numbering over 600 pieces produced during the 1850s and 1860s. Following Catlin's death in 1872, the painting descended to his three daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin. In 1912, the American Museum of Natural History in New York acquired the surviving works from this collection directly from Elizabeth Wing Catlin. The museum later deaccessioned the paintings, and in 1959, dealer Kennedy Galleries in New York facilitated the sale of more than 300 of these works, including this one, to Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia. Mellon subsequently donated 351 paintings from the Cartoon Collection to the National Gallery of Art in 1965.

Context

View of "Pike's Tent" emerges from a pivotal period in Catlin's career, distinct from his earlier efforts. During the 1830s, Catlin produced his first major body of work, the Indian Gallery, which comprised over 500 paintings of Indigenous portraits and scenes, with most surviving works now housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Facing financial difficulties later in life, Catlin began his Cartoon Collection in the 1850s and 1860s to recreate and expand upon his earlier visual record of the American West. The 1871 New York exhibition of the Cartoon Collection, accompanied by a detailed catalog, was a final effort to secure his legacy and financial stability before his death the following year.

Curious Grassy Bluffs, St. Peter's River, George Catlin

Artist & collection

Artist

George Catlin

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.