George Catlin, Buffalo Cow, Grazing on the Prairie, 1832-1833, oil on canvas, 24 x 29 in. (60.9 x 73.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.405
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Buffalo Cow, Grazing on the Prairie
- Artist
- Date
- 1832-1833
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 24 x 29 in. (60.9 x 73.7 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Animal — buffalo
- Landscape — plain
- Western
- Object Number
- 1985.66.405
Artwork Description
“The cow is less in stature [than the bull], and less ferocious . . . and always distinguishable by the peculiar shape of the horns, which are much smaller and more crooked, turning their points more in towards the centre of the forehead.” George Catlin made this sketch on the Upper Missouri in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, nos. 4, 31, 1841; reprint 1973)
Works by this artist (2 items)
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.
