Painters of Native American Indians
When the first pilgrims set foot on the coast of North America, they were surprised to be greeted by a physically small dark skinned people of Indian appearance. The origins of these Native American Indians remain unknown to this day. Speculations have placed them as originating from Europe or possibly even from as far away as Japan. There are certain schools of though that declares that they may have derived form the ancient Aztecs.
One thing for sure that their presence in North America came as great surprise to the early settlers and the Native American Indians have remained a source or curiosity and fascination to this day. Certain early Americans artists took it upon themselves to chronicle the lives of the Native Americans for posterity, which continues with same passion till this day.
One of this first to paint the American Indian and record their ways of life was George Catlin (1796-1872), Catlin, who was a lawyer by profession, travelled west during the 1830’s on a total of five occasions to record the habits and typical surroundings of these noble people, as he was convinced that the expansion needs of the settlers would cause these native American tribes, whose homes were mostly on the High Plains region would rapidly become extinct. His feelings were that this basically primitive band of people would be unable to withstand the settlement wave engulfing the new continent and would disappear. George Catlin became gradually convinced that it was his mission to record them for posterity.
Catlin earned his place in history as the first American artist to paint members of the Plains Indian tribes in their own home territories. During his five visits the artist lovingly recorded more than 500 impressions of life during these turbulent times for the American Indian, beginning from their forced migration in 1830. As his work continued, the plight of the American Indian became more and more harsh, a fact that created very little interest among the fast burgeoning settlement population of the United States of America. Eventually disillusioned by the lack of interest and his inability to sell any of paintings that he had created, Carlin went personally bankrupt. An industrialist from Philadelphia, Joseph Harrison, realizing the importance of Catlin’s collection, now known as the Indian Gallery purchased the entire collection. Later Harrison donated in its entirety to the Smithsonian Institute; Catlin’s collection has long been recognized as major treasure in the culture not only of Native Americans but of all North Americans, providing a rare but necessary view of the difficulties that Native Americans experienced during the early years of expansionism in American history.
Later Catlin, in an attempt to restore his fortune, drew around 700 sketches, which were based on his earlier paintings, but with little financial success or acclaim his lifetime. Today these sketches can be viewed in New York at the American Museum of Natural History. Although his intentions were mostly honorable and his talents unquestionable, Catlin never received the recognition and the financial reward that he felt that he was entitled to in his lifetime.
Another talented artist who was granted an opportunity to record for posterity the lives of the Native Americans the Swiss born Karl Bodmer, Bodmer’s exposure to the culture of the Native American was much more by chance than Catlin’s. In fact, when Bodmer was just 24 years old he was appointed by the German Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian to paint some landscapes and portraits of the New World being uncovered in North America. Prince Maximillian had visited North America on several previous occasions and developed a fascination with the Native Americans. He actually expected Bodmer to paint a few portraits of the local population while they were there. What the prince was unaware of was that Bodmer had studied only to paint landscapes. However to his eternal credit, the young artist displayed sufficient talent and determination to enable home to capture some remarkable images in oils. The unlikely duo travelled across some of the more volatile regions of North America of these times. During the time spent there, Bodmer created a total of eight one images of Native American Indians including some fairly typical scenarios of that era in the western territories. One trip to the North America was obviously enough for Karl Bodmer as he never returned. However images of his historical visit provide Americans with important visual chronicles of their nation’s heritage.
The largest parts of Bodmer’s originals are hung in three galleries in the United States. Of the three the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska holds the lion’s share.
It is possible to say that both Catlin and Bodmer were the pioneers in reproducing the history of the presence of Native Americans and they deserve special recognition as they did so in times and under circumstances that may have presented a risk to their lives. There have been many more who have followed in their footsteps, possibly with a reduced risk of personal danger, but with at least the same determination.