Rachel
As industrialization blossomed the native peoples were forced back further into the wilderness, often relocated to places that held no worth for them. Native Americans were condemned as barbaric savages in comparison to the “civilized” European Americans and often mixed feelings occurred about these heathens; many Americans were conflicted about whether or not they should halt expansion and come to the aid of the displaced peoples or continue destroying them with the exploitation of the land and its natural resources. For many, Native Americans “represented a time of innocence and nobility before the development of urban centers and industrialization” (Pohl). As the Indians were brought into further light, many people felt the need to examine the natives and define “what it meant to be or look ‘Indian’” (Pohl), this created a growing need for artists to capture the essence of indigenous peoples.
One such artist who rose to the occasion was George Catlin. Unlike many artists before him who so desperately tried to depict the Indian life, Catlin had experience that bested even the most skilled artist. During the 1820s, the artist traveled to New York and painted various portraits of the Iroquois; as well as direct experience with the natives, “he wanted to convey an image of indigenous peoples devoid of evidence of contact with European civilization” (Pohl). Catlin obviously sympathized with the plight of the natives, but made no moves to “rescue their lives or their race but only their looks and their modes” (Pohl). Catlin’s behavior is one which mimics “‘imperialist nostalgia,’ a yearning for that which one has directly or indirectly participated in destroying, a preservation of ‘looks and modes’ in the face of unfortunate but necessary destruction of a people” (Pohl). Catlin produced two distinct types of images during his career: multi-figure scenes set in natural landscapes and studio-like portraits of single individuals” (Pohl); The Last Race, Part of Okipa Ceremony (Mandan) and Mah-To-Toh-Pa (Four Bears), Mandan Chief exemplify his specific styles.
The paintings Catlin created confirmed the already established notion of the “noble-savage” for Native Americans while also amplifying the innocence and purity which were still part of the natives’ irreplaceable past. The main goal of Catlin was to correctly represent the Native Americans and to provide a statement of authenticity for the European Americans to absorb. In The Last Race, Catlin paints the “distinctive dwellings of the more sedentary, horticultural Mandan” which were often “hemispherical earth structures” (Pohl). This piece conveys the manners and modes of the indigenous peoples far more accurately than a simple portrait; while the portraits are still important, the group images define a sense of identity among the natives for the European Americans, so they now see them not as savages, but as human beings with customs different than theirs. Mak-To-Toh-Pa functions as an entirely different piece of work; this portrait not only conveys the power and pride of the Indian people, but also demonstrates the fierce independence of a race which slowly dies out.
In the midst of the preservation of history, Catlin also serves to demonstrate his own prowess, as seen in the next two images. In The Author Painting a Chief at the Base of the Rocky Mountains, Catlin “depicts his ability to capture the physical likeness of the chief on canvas as an act of magic in the eyes of the Mandan villagers” (Pohl). As a frontispiece for one of Catlin’s published journals about his adventures with the natives, he utilized little shading and stuck mainly to a reductive graphic style which rendered the piece rather two-dimensional. Even in the flat image, the chief, Catlin and several other villagers “are still more life-like than the elementary stick figures on the sides of the tipi that represent Mandan artistic expression” (Pohl). While the inclusion of the figures on the tipi generates negative thoughts about the general lack of creativity of these people, they function with a deeper purpose in the composition of the piece. The drawings serve to connect the figures of Mah-To-Toh-Pa and Catlin, as well as draw the eye from the center of the piece to the top-most point; “the lines of its sides link their heads, anchoring them within the pyramidal composition and suggesting a certain equality between them” (Pohl). Most peculiar about this image is the use of tipis: Catlin knew for a fact that the Mandan lived in earth structures, but he chose to depict tipis as a way to convey the validity of this tribe as tipis had recently become the symbol of Native Americans.
In Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa – Mandan, Catlin removes the tipis and instead places the chief not only closer to the center of the image, but also increases the number of viewers of the spectacle. Now obviously outside and in nature, the chief seem much more at peace, and the painting and easel now seem almost ridiculously superfluous. As an attempt to combat the new displacement, the easel itself represents a handcrafted tipi. Catlin aimed to “heighten the presence of the Mandan chief in the composition and the connection between the Mandan and nature, and to locate Catlin the artist more clearly with the Mandan world” (Pohl). In all of his works, Catlin produces a quality of the indigenous peoples that is irreplaceable, a sense of nobility and strength which no longer exists in the industrialized lives of European Americans. While he connects with the natives, he also demonstrates his superiority, which in a way, was inevitable.
Works Cited
Catlin, George. Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa - Mandan. 1857-69. Oil on board. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Catlin, George. Mah-To-Toh-Pa (Four Bears), Mandan Chief. 1832-34. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Catlin, George. The Author Painting a Chief at the Base of the Rocky Mountains Frontispiece from Letters and Notes. 1841. Engraving. Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California.
Catlin, George. The Last Race, Part of Okipa Ceremony (Mandan). 1832. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Pohl, Frances K. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002.
As industrialization blossomed the native peoples were forced back further into the wilderness, often relocated to places that held no worth for them. Native Americans were condemned as barbaric savages in comparison to the “civilized” European Americans and often mixed feelings occurred about these heathens; many Americans were conflicted about whether or not they should halt expansion and come to the aid of the displaced peoples or continue destroying them with the exploitation of the land and its natural resources. For many, Native Americans “represented a time of innocence and nobility before the development of urban centers and industrialization” (Pohl). As the Indians were brought into further light, many people felt the need to examine the natives and define “what it meant to be or look ‘Indian’” (Pohl), this created a growing need for artists to capture the essence of indigenous peoples.
One such artist who rose to the occasion was George Catlin. Unlike many artists before him who so desperately tried to depict the Indian life, Catlin had experience that bested even the most skilled artist. During the 1820s, the artist traveled to New York and painted various portraits of the Iroquois; as well as direct experience with the natives, “he wanted to convey an image of indigenous peoples devoid of evidence of contact with European civilization” (Pohl). Catlin obviously sympathized with the plight of the natives, but made no moves to “rescue their lives or their race but only their looks and their modes” (Pohl). Catlin’s behavior is one which mimics “‘imperialist nostalgia,’ a yearning for that which one has directly or indirectly participated in destroying, a preservation of ‘looks and modes’ in the face of unfortunate but necessary destruction of a people” (Pohl). Catlin produced two distinct types of images during his career: multi-figure scenes set in natural landscapes and studio-like portraits of single individuals” (Pohl); The Last Race, Part of Okipa Ceremony (Mandan) and Mah-To-Toh-Pa (Four Bears), Mandan Chief exemplify his specific styles.
The paintings Catlin created confirmed the already established notion of the “noble-savage” for Native Americans while also amplifying the innocence and purity which were still part of the natives’ irreplaceable past. The main goal of Catlin was to correctly represent the Native Americans and to provide a statement of authenticity for the European Americans to absorb. In The Last Race, Catlin paints the “distinctive dwellings of the more sedentary, horticultural Mandan” which were often “hemispherical earth structures” (Pohl). This piece conveys the manners and modes of the indigenous peoples far more accurately than a simple portrait; while the portraits are still important, the group images define a sense of identity among the natives for the European Americans, so they now see them not as savages, but as human beings with customs different than theirs. Mak-To-Toh-Pa functions as an entirely different piece of work; this portrait not only conveys the power and pride of the Indian people, but also demonstrates the fierce independence of a race which slowly dies out.
In the midst of the preservation of history, Catlin also serves to demonstrate his own prowess, as seen in the next two images. In The Author Painting a Chief at the Base of the Rocky Mountains, Catlin “depicts his ability to capture the physical likeness of the chief on canvas as an act of magic in the eyes of the Mandan villagers” (Pohl). As a frontispiece for one of Catlin’s published journals about his adventures with the natives, he utilized little shading and stuck mainly to a reductive graphic style which rendered the piece rather two-dimensional. Even in the flat image, the chief, Catlin and several other villagers “are still more life-like than the elementary stick figures on the sides of the tipi that represent Mandan artistic expression” (Pohl). While the inclusion of the figures on the tipi generates negative thoughts about the general lack of creativity of these people, they function with a deeper purpose in the composition of the piece. The drawings serve to connect the figures of Mah-To-Toh-Pa and Catlin, as well as draw the eye from the center of the piece to the top-most point; “the lines of its sides link their heads, anchoring them within the pyramidal composition and suggesting a certain equality between them” (Pohl). Most peculiar about this image is the use of tipis: Catlin knew for a fact that the Mandan lived in earth structures, but he chose to depict tipis as a way to convey the validity of this tribe as tipis had recently become the symbol of Native Americans.
In Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa – Mandan, Catlin removes the tipis and instead places the chief not only closer to the center of the image, but also increases the number of viewers of the spectacle. Now obviously outside and in nature, the chief seem much more at peace, and the painting and easel now seem almost ridiculously superfluous. As an attempt to combat the new displacement, the easel itself represents a handcrafted tipi. Catlin aimed to “heighten the presence of the Mandan chief in the composition and the connection between the Mandan and nature, and to locate Catlin the artist more clearly with the Mandan world” (Pohl). In all of his works, Catlin produces a quality of the indigenous peoples that is irreplaceable, a sense of nobility and strength which no longer exists in the industrialized lives of European Americans. While he connects with the natives, he also demonstrates his superiority, which in a way, was inevitable.
Works Cited
Catlin, George. Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa - Mandan. 1857-69. Oil on board. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Catlin, George. Mah-To-Toh-Pa (Four Bears), Mandan Chief. 1832-34. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Catlin, George. The Author Painting a Chief at the Base of the Rocky Mountains Frontispiece from Letters and Notes. 1841. Engraving. Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California.
Catlin, George. The Last Race, Part of Okipa Ceremony (Mandan). 1832. Oil on canvas. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Pohl, Frances K. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002.