
Read the visual description
The image shows three individuals standing in full length facing the viewer. On the left stands a woman with dark hair, wearing a brown fringed dress with red leggings. The middle figure, likely a man, wears a beaded garment and a headpiece with feathers. He holds a stick or staff. The figure on the right, also likely a man, wears a feathered headdress, a beaded necklace, and an arm band. He is bare-chested with a blue cloth covering his lower body, grey leggings, and holds a painted shield and a ceremonial club. The background features a softly painted horizon within an oval border.
National Gallery of Art · Painting
Athapasca Chief, His Wife, and a Warrior
George Catlin
- Date
- 1855/1869
- Medium
- oil on card mounted on paperboard
- Dimensions
- overall: 45.5 x 62 cm (17 15/16 x 24 7/16 in.)
- Classification
- Painting
- Accession number
- 1965.16.164
- 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
- Athapasca
- Kol-o-wos-ka, warrior
- Ohkst, wife of chief
- Ve-hoots-ah-a (The Sleepy Eyes), chief
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 50472. 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.