In the Beginning

Buffalo Hunt, Horseback,by George Catlin hand colored lithograph published in 1844.
All of the prints by George Catlin on this page will be available
for purchase on May 5, 2012 in the Heritage Auction Galleries
Art of the American West sale to be held in Dallas. Visit their website
at www.ha.com to see the images in greater detail.

They are perhaps among the most quintessential images in American Western Art---Plains Indians chasing across the open prairie in pursuit of a massive herd of bison, a Comanche warrior lassoing a wild mustang, a Hidasta dancer in full regalia, a pallisaded frontier fort set against a distant river---these are scenes that set the stage for countless numbers of artists who ventured into the interior of the West beginning in the early decades of the 19^th century and for later artists who have returned to these early views of the West as primary source materials.  

Catching the Wild Horse, by George Catlin, hand colored lithograph
published in 1844.  Watercolor and oil versions of this image
can be found in the Rockwell Museum of Western Art
in Corning, New York and in the Gilcrease Museum in
Tulsa, Oklahoma

They have served as inspiration for succeeding generations of artists from painter Ken Riley to sculptor John Coleman, who mines the deep veins of western imagery to produce their own interpretations of Native American culture.  These images by George Catlin and Karl Bodmer in many ways began the whole genre of American Western art.

Mato-Tope by Karl Bodmer.  One
of the many portraits of
Indian leaders that Bodmer
made on his trip to the West
in 1832-33.  Originally all
Bodmer prints were published
as black and white aquatints.
Hand coloring was added at a
later date.  Catlin also painted
a portrait of Mato-Tope

Bodmer's depiction of a Hidasta Dog Dancer is one of the
most popular and sought after prints from Travels
In the Interior of North America, published between
1832 and 1843

Both artists first traveled up the Missouri River in 1832 and 1833 to capture on canvas a land and culture that few Americans and Europeans had seen.    For Catlin his first trip west was the beginning of a lifelong obsession to document the entirety of North American Indian life and culture.  For Bodmer, his journey in the service of German naturalist Prince Maximillan zu Wied-Neuweid, was his one and only trip to the  West, but it was a trip that would have a lasting impact on the artistic interpretation of the West.  Prince Maximilian hired Bodmer, a native of Switzerland, to accompany him on a grand journey through the West.  Bodmer’s role was to document the land, animals, plant life, and people they would meet along the way.  After returning to Europe the Prince published his journals of the trip along with Bodmer’s   illustrations in the form of highly detailed etchings.  Originally all of these etchings were produced as black and white images, but many were then hand colored.  The eighty-one etchings produced for Maximilian’s journal served then and now as a visual record of Native life on the high plains.  In some cases, such as scenes of the Mandan Indians who were decimated by a small pox epidemic  soon after white settlers and traders first appeared in the region, Bodmer’s and Catlin’s depictions  are the only visual record remaining of that particular time and place.

Scenes such as this one offer a rare glimpse into the culture of the Mandan tribe.  Here Karl Bodmer
shows the interior of a Mandan lodge in a scene that is rich with detail.  In many cases, these
images by Bodmer and Catlin are the only visual records of a culture that was
decimated by small pox shortly after the artists visited.

Forts such as the one shown here in the distance were centers for trade with Indian tribes from
both near and far.  These forts also provided a base of operations for both Catlin and
Bodmer

Wild Horses at Play, hand colored lithograph by George Catlin,
published in 1844.

While Bodmer’s trip west was sponsored, George Catlin ventured out entirely on his own and while Bodmer made only one voyage, Catlin traveled throughout the West on numerous occasions.  A Pennsylvania lawyer turned portrait painter, Catlin had encountered by chance a group of American Indians in Philadelphia who had traveled east to meet with government officials in Washington.  Intrigued and inspired by the group and convinced that Native American life and culture would vanish within his lifetime; Catlin determined that his primary calling in life would be the documentation of North American Indian life before it disappeared forever.  He pursued that calling with a fervor that carried him throughout the West, but unlike Bodmer, he was never able to find sufficient sponsors to fulfill his dream.  Much of his life was spent in an attempt to convince patrons, including the U. S. government, to provide him with the financial resources to complete his quest.  While he produced a prodigious body of work in oil, he frequently produced lithographic editions of his work in hopes of raising money for further travels.  On more than one occasion, he lost his entire collection of paintings to creditors.  One of his great dreams was to have the U.S. government acquire his “Indian Gallery” for the Smithsonian Institution.  Ironically, decades after his death, a major collection of his work was acquired by the National Gallery in Washington. 

Buffalo Hunt, Approaching in a Ravine, hand colored lithograph by
George Catlin, published in 1844.  Sometimes, the artist placed
himself in the picture as is shown here.

In yet another effort to raise money for his continuing travels, at one point, Catlin traveled to England with a troupe of American Indians that performed traditional dances in galleries adorned with his paintings, something of a forerunner to Buffalo Bill’s later Wild West Shows. 

Bodmer was the more accomplished artist of the two, but Catlin was the more prolific (often out of necessity).  Together both artists provide an invaluable insight into a life and time that indeed did rapidly change.  By virtue of being the first artists to capture on canvas and paper the cultures of the Northern Plains, Bodmer and Catlin also provided the blueprint for many other artists who traveled into the same territory throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century.  The pictures that Catlin and Bodmer produced along with the succession of other artists who followed them so firmly established such a predominant image of the West and American Indians as that of life on the Northern Plains that for many Americans the image of the Plains warrior was the one and only image of Native America.  Later those same depictions were incorporated into literally hundreds of illustrated magazine stories, and then movies and television programs.   So pervasive was this interpretation of American Indians that it would take several decades for other artistic interpretations of the tribal cultures of the rest of the West, such as the pueblos of Northern Mexico, to begin to present a more complete picture of the richness and complexity of the many different tribal groups of North America.

A Blood Chief, a Piekann War Chief, and a Koutani Indian, hand colored
aquatint by Karl Bodmer

Mandan Indians,hand colored aquatint by Karl Bodmer

Recently I was reminded once again of just what a profound effect the works of George Catlin and Karl Bodmer have had on not only the art of the American West, but of American art in general on a visit to the newly opened Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  The museum is a remarkable addition to the American museum scene made possible by the generosity of Wal-Mart heiress, Alice Walton.  Situated on 250 beautifully wooded acres complete with winding streams and walking trails, the museum takes a rather comprehensive look at American art from colonial times to the present.  

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  More information on the museum, its collections and programs can
be found at www.crystalbridges.org

Its galleries include such icons of American Art as Norman Rockwell’s  Rosie the Riveter, Asher B. Durand’s  Kindred Spirits,  and major paintings by George Inness, William Merritt Chase, Martin Johnson Heade,  George Bellows, Marsden Hartley,  and Andy Warhol.  The museum also displays classic examples of the Art of the American West by such artists as Thomas Moran, John Mix Stanley, George DeForest Brush, and Frederic Remington.  

Housed in a strikingly modern building situated over a lagoon, the museum offers visitors a chance to walk through a wide panorama of American art in a single visit (a visit that is incidentally free of charge).

The curators of the museum have tucked a number of small thematic exhibitions within the flow of the general museum and one that caught my attention was a gallery devoted to the vintage prints of George Catlin and Karl Bodmer.  The works on display showed each artist at his best and included classic images such as Bodmer’s Hidasta Dog Dancer and Catlin’s Buffalo Hunt.  That the museum’s curatorial staff chose to include these icons of Western American art among the many masterpieces on display is a testament both to the importance of Catlin and Bodmer, and the important role that western images have played in the whole body of American art.  For one who has devoted much of an over thirty year career in museums primarily devoted to the Art of the American West, it was a pleasant surprise to see these early western images prominently displayed within the context of American Art in general.

While vintage lithographs by George Catlin can still be purchased at quite
reasonable prices.  Original works are far more costly.  This painting
of the interior of a Mandan Lodge sold at auction in 2004
for $,538,500.

While Crystal Bridges is a major museum of American art with financial resources that are the envy of many longer established museums, the display of these vintage prints by Catlin and Bodmer points out another interesting opportunity for collectors of much more modest means.  Original oils and watercolors by Bodmer and Catlin can easily sell in the six to the even seven figure range, but the prints can be purchased for as little as a thousand to two thousand dollars.  To be sure, there is a very wide range of prices for vintage Bodmer’s and Catlin’s depending on the date of issue, the particular edition, the condition, and even which individual print is available.  In general, simply due to scarcity, Bodmer prints will fetch higher prices than many Catlin’s.  Some Bodmer’s such as the Dog Dancer have long been in demand and are priced accordingly.  However, one can find examples of both artists’ work in print form at very reasonable prices at auctions, art galleries, and galleries that specialize in fine prints.

Original Bodmer watercolors command high prices as well.
This portrait sold at auction in 1996 for $167,500.

Prices for original Catlin Indian portraits continue to rise.
This one sold at auction in December, 2011 for
$962,500.  Vintage prints afford collectors
the opportunity of owning a similar image
at a far more modest price.

Prints from the three volume McKenney
and Hall History of the Indian Tribes
of North America show a wide
range of Native American
culture from the early 19th century
and can be collected for prices beginning
in the hundreds of dollars.

For those collectors interested in similar subjects as those depicted by Catlin and Bodmer, but who are looking for vintage prints of a less expensive nature, one could consider prints from the McKenney and Hall History of the Indian Tribes of North America, originally published in three volumes between 1837 and 1844 and containing 120 images of Indian leaders of the day.  The complete three volume set is quite pricey, but individual prints can be had for only a few hundred dollars each.  Even more reasonable are vintage prints and illustrations by such artists as John Mix Stanley that appeared in the published accounts of the government surveys done just prior to the Civil War to determine the route of the first transcontinental railroad.  Less detailed, much smaller in nature, and printed on less quality paper, nevertheless these prints give collectors  a great chance to own a piece of American history without investing thousands of dollars.

Bison Dance of the Mandans,hand colored aquatint by Karl Bodmer, 

When purchasing prints, always deal with reputable print and art dealers, do some research on the different editions of the prints and common prices for works from each addition, and ask questions about provenance before sealing the deal.  Any reputable dealer or auction professional will be happy to answer any and all questions regarding prints they have for sale and all will be happy to have you take a close look at each item.  If you have doubts or are not satisfied with any of the answers to your queries, simply move on—there are plenty of sources for these wonderful examples of early western art.  Owning them gives a collector great access to an important part of American history and the chance to own images that began the whole genre of American Western art.