Sign In

George Catlin (July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler known for his iconic portraits of Native Americans and their way of life on the American frontier. He is recognized for traveling extensively in the 1830s, documenting the lives, customs, and appearances of Indigenous peoples through art and writing.  

Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Catlin was exposed to stories of the frontier from an early age. His mother, Polly Sutton, had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming, an event that deeply influenced his curiosity about Indigenous peoples. Initially trained as a lawyer, Catlin found little satisfaction in the legal field. After being admitted to the Bar in 1819, he soon abandoned his practice to pursue art, studying in Philadelphia in 1823.  

Catlin's first major journey into Native American territory came in 1830 when he joined a diplomatic mission led by Governor William Clark. This expedition marked the beginning of five extensive trips across the American West, based out of St. Louis. Between 1830 and 1836, Catlin visited fifty tribes, particularly those on the Missouri River and across the Plains. His travels extended as far as Fort Union Trading Post near the North Dakota-Montana border. Among the most famous tribes he encountered were the Pawnee, Omaha, Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Crow, allowing him to produce hundreds of portraits and scenes depicting tribal life.

Catlin assembled his works and artifacts into what he called his Indian Gallery, which he exhibited in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and New York. His paintings hung in a salon style, with visitors referencing a numbered catalogue to identify each subject. Though the gallery was an impressive achievement, Catlin struggled to find financial success or secure government interest in preserving his collection, forcing him to take his works on tour to Europe in 1839. 

In Europe, Catlin found temporary success. His Indian Gallery attracted attention in cities such as London, Brussels, and Paris, and earned the praise of critics like Charles Baudelaire. Despite this, his attempts to sell his collection to the U.S. government continued to fail. Financial hardship forced Catlin to sell the original collection in 1852 to the industrialist Joseph Harrison, who stored it in Philadelphia.

In the final years of his life, Catlin endeavored to recreate his works from memory, producing more than 400 paintings, which became known as the Cartoon Collection. During this period, he published Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians (1841) and Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio (1844), helping to spread his art and ideas to a wider audience.

From 1852 to 1857, Catlin expanded his travels to South and Central America, exploring new frontiers and adding to his ethnographic knowledge. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1871, he was invited to work at the Smithsonian Institution’s “Castle,” where he continued his artistic efforts until his death in 1872.

Today, Catlin’s original Indian Gallery is housed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, with associated artifacts held by the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History. His work is widely celebrated for its historical significance and artistic merit, providing a detailed visual record of Native American life before widespread European-American influence.