The image shows three individuals standing in a row. The person on the left holds a spear upright in their right hand, has long dark hair adorned with feathers, and wears a decorated garment. The central figure wears a headdress with feathers, a fringed tunic with circular decorations, and moccasins while holding a bow and arrows. The person on the right stands with their body slightly turned to the side, hands folded in front, dressed in a lengthy garment with a patterned shawl and their hair tied back. The background features a soft, cloudy sky with faint imagery of distant mountains and grassy ground. The painting is framed with an oval shape set within a larger green frame.
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The image shows three individuals standing in a row. The person on the left holds a spear upright in their right hand, has long dark hair adorned with feathers, and wears a decorated garment. The central figure wears a headdress with feathers, a fringed tunic with circular decorations, and moccasins while holding a bow and arrows. The person on the right stands with their body slightly turned to the side, hands folded in front, dressed in a lengthy garment with a patterned shawl and their hair tied back. The background features a soft, cloudy sky with faint imagery of distant mountains and grassy ground. The painting is framed with an oval shape set within a larger green frame.

National Gallery of Art · Painting

A Crow Chief, a Warrior, and His Wife

George Catlin

Date
1855/1869
Medium
oil on card mounted on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 47 x 62 cm (18 1/2 x 24 7/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
1965.16.21
Credit line
Paul Mellon Collection
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CAB

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • American
  • American Paintings, Catlin
  • North American Indian
  • portrait
  • Crow
  • Chief, secondary (unnamed)
  • Steen-ver-re (He who Reasons), warrior
  • Wife of warrior (unnamed)
Provenance

George Catlin [1796-1872]; by descent to his daughters, Clara Gregory Catlin, Louise Catlin Kinney, and Elizabeth Wing Catlin; purchased 1912 from Elizabeth Wing Catlin by the American Museum of Natural History; sold 1959 through (Kennedy Galleries, New York) to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1965 to the NGA.

NGA object ID 50329. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.