George Catlin

Wild Horses at Play: From one of the most important works on Native American culture.

George Catlin began his career in Philadelphia, soon achieving recognition and success as a portraitist. In the 1820’s he was given the opportunity to depict a Native American delegation at a time when his fellow Americans regarded them as uncultured and was subsequently inspired to travel West to depict the native culture in all its raw beauty.

To finance his project Catlin threw himself into his portrait commissions and by 1830 was finally ready to travel to the Indian Territories. During the next seven years he painted the Native Americans extensively from life and kept written records on the tribes and their customs. Due to lack of interest in the United States, Catlin moved to London and exhibited his work in the 'Indian Gallery' in Piccadilly. The public flocked to see his paintings and listen to the lectures that he gave supporting the Native Americans and their vanishing way of life.

By the mid 1840's Catlin decided to prepare and publish a large portfolio of coloured lithographs of some of his most interesting pictures. The North American Indian Portfolio of Hunting Scenes and Amusements contained twenty-five views and was issued in two editions with the deluxe edition having additional hand colouring. Six more prints were soon added and in the first year five separate editions were issued to meet demand.

Despite Catlin’s determination, the years that followed were unfortunately not as successful. His efforts in persuading the US Congress to purchase his original paintings for the pleasure and education of the nation failed. In 1879 when the peak of his business and exhibitions had subsided, he was left with bankruptcy and deafness, and his original ‘Indian Gallery’ paintings were sold off to private collections in order to pay creditors.

Today his prints are probably the best known of the Native American images and one of the most magnificent works on the American West in the nineteenth century.