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George Catlin, Ee-áh-sá-pa, Black Rock, a Two Kettle Chief, 1832, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.80
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Ee-áh-sá-pa, Black Rock, a Two Kettle Chief
- Artist
- Date
- 1832
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Occupation — other — chief
- Portrait male — Black Rock — full length
- Indian — Sioux
- Indian — Dakota
- Object Number
- 1985.66.80
Artwork Description
Although George Catlin painted many bust-length portraits, this canvas is a rarer full-length figure. Catlin noted that Black Rock, a Western Sioux/Lakota who was highly respected by fur traders, was “a tall and fine looking man, of six feet or more in stature.” His long headdress is made of war-eagles' quills and ermine skins. His stance is regal, with a robe thrown over his shoulders and spear extended. To emphasize Black Rock’s nobility, Catlin borrowed a classical pose that he used frequently for important subjects. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 27, 1841, reprint 1973; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)
Exhibitions
October 11, 2019–March 13, 2020
Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists examines representations of buffalo and their integration into the lives of Native Americans on the Great Plains in the 1830s and in the twentieth century.