Osage Scalp Dance

John Mix Stanley, Osage Scalp Dance, 1845, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Misses Henry, 1985.66.248,930
John Mix Stanley, Osage Scalp Dance, 1845, oil on canvas, 40 3⁄4 x 60 1⁄2 in. (103.5 x 153.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Misses Henry, 1985.66.248,930
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Osage Scalp Dance
Artist
Date
1845
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
40 3⁄4 x 60 1⁄2 in. (103.5 x 153.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Misses Henry
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Ceremony — dance — Scalp Dance
  • State of being — evil — danger
  • Indian — Osage
  • Figure group
Object Number
1985.66.248,930
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.248,930

Artwork Description

Melodramatic tales of scalping were popular in Europe and the United States throughout the nineteenth century. John Mix Stanley’s operatic scene shows a villain wielding a war club over a desperate woman's head. A hero who wears a presidential peace medal blocks the club with his spear. By the time Stanley painted this canvas, the government had already begun to subdue native peoples by relocating tribes and fostering warfare among them. This "divide and conquer" policy, together with thrilling narratives of white captives carried off to slavery, helped ease the consciences of European Americans making their way across the continent. Stanley based this fictional image on sketches he made while traveling through the frontier territories in 1842 and 1843.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Works by this artist (4 items)

James Surls, Black and White Tipped Flower, 1982, burnt white oak, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase and gift in honor of Adelyn Dohme Breeskin from her friends, 1986.52
Black and White Tipped Flower
Artist
Date1982
burnt white oak
On view
James Surls, Sea Flower, drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1977.47.77
Sea Flower
Artist
drawing
Not on view
James Surls, Me, the Axe, and the Wand, 1982, pine, mahogany, oak, hickory and rattan, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Barbara and Donald Zale in honor of George and Julie Tobolowsky and James and Charmaine Surls, 2005.27A-D, © 1982, James Surls
Me, the Axe, and the Wand
Artist
Date1982
pine, mahogany, oak, hickory and rattan
Not on view
James Surls, Sea Flower, 1978, pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1977.47.76
Sea Flower
Artist
Date1978
pencil on paper
Not on view

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Mandala
Artist
Date1977
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Image Not Available
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Artist
Date1917
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Not on view