I can only imagine the look on George Catlin’s
parents’ faces if they were alive when he made the announcement that he was
leaving his career as an attorney.
Changing careers might be common enough today, but to leave the possible
prestige and income of the legal world might be considered by some to be preposterous. But George Catlin had a gift that he needed
to use.
After meeting with the explorer William Clark
of the Louis & Clark expeditions, George had a plan. He intended to visit as many Native American
tribes on the continent that he could.
While we might be tempted to only consider George a painter, he also “considered himself a scientist, explorer,
author, and entrepreneur.” By the end of
the 19th century, Catlin had painted over 500 landscapes, scenes and
portraits of life as a Native American.
Some of the scenes included antelope shooting, earth-covered lodges, a
woman with her child, many paintings of buffalo and many other hunting and recreational activity scenes. George needed to work quickly because when he
started out in 1830, he couldn’t have known that the Indian Removal Act was
coming which forced Native Americans out of their land and into government
assigned territory.
George
Catlin toured the continent to gain an audience for his paintings but found
himself in a great deal of debt which almost cost him his entire
collection. What he lost paying for his
debts, he made up for by recreating 400 additional paintings. Like many artists, George was probably not appreciated
for his talent until after his death in 1872.
Seven years later, The Smithsonian Institute received his Indian
Gallery.
Here is a picture of George Catlin as well as a few of his paintings:
