The image shows a Native American camp from an elevated viewpoint. The scene includes tipis with symbols and people engaged in various activities. The setting features distant hills under a cloudy sky, with soft transitions between land and sky. The brushstrokes are delicate and precise, creating a realistic landscape. The color palette is dominated by earthy tones, with greens for hills and browns for tipis and earth, while the sky is a blend of grays and blues. Figures on horseback in the distance add movement to the scene. The painting is bordered by an oval frame.
Read the visual description

The image shows a Native American camp from an elevated viewpoint. The scene includes tipis with symbols and people engaged in various activities. The setting features distant hills under a cloudy sky, with soft transitions between land and sky. The brushstrokes are delicate and precise, creating a realistic landscape. The color palette is dominated by earthy tones, with greens for hills and browns for tipis and earth, while the sky is a blend of grays and blues. Figures on horseback in the distance add movement to the scene. The painting is bordered by an oval frame.

National Gallery of Art · Painting

An Ojibbeway Village of Skin Tents

George Catlin

Date
1861/1869
Medium
oil on card mounted on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 47.5 x 63.9 cm (18 11/16 x 25 3/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
1965.16.128
Credit line
Paul Mellon Collection
Time span
1851 to 1875
Department
CAB

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • American
  • Village
  • American Paintings, Catlin
  • North American Indian
  • architecture
  • Ojibbeway
  • Tents
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 50436. 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.