
Read the visual description
There are three figures depicted in the image. The figure on the left is a male standing upright, holding a rifle with one hand. His facial features show prominent cheekbones and a slightly open mouth. He wears a headdress with feathers, dark hair, a necklace, arm bands, and a fringed garment around his waist. The middle figure, with their back to the viewer, is wrapped in a fur clothing piece and appears to wear a feathered headdress. The figure on the right is a female with long dark hair, wearing a pink shawl over a light dress with patterns. She carries an infant on her back in a woven basket. The background shows a simple landscape with grassy terrain, a light blue sky with clouds, enclosed in an oval frame bordered further.
National Gallery of Art · Painting
Arapaho Chief, His Wife, and a Warrior
George Catlin
- Date
- 1861/1869
- Medium
- oil on card mounted on paperboard
- Dimensions
- overall: 47.2 x 62.9 cm (18 9/16 x 24 3/4 in.)
- Classification
- Painting
- Accession number
- 1965.16.30
- 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
- Arapaho
- Ha-nis-krah (He sees through the fog), chief
- Hoo, wife of the chief
- Too-jen-ux-ta (The Great Jumper), warrior, hunter
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 50338. 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.