Great Hero, a chief

George Catlin, Great Hero, a chief, 1845, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.386,321
George Catlin, Great Hero, a chief, 1845, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.386,321
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Artwork Details

Title
Great Hero, a chief
Artist
Date
1845
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
  • Indian — Ojibwa
  • Portrait male — Great Hero
Object Number
1985.66.386,321
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.386,321

Artwork Description

“I have visited forty-eight different tribes, the greater part of which I found speaking different languages, and containing in all 400,000 souls. I have brought home safe, and in good order, 310 portraits in oil, all painted in their native dress, and in their own wigwams . . . as well as a very extensive and curious collection of their costumes, and all their other manufactures, from the size of a wigwam down to the size of a quill or a rattle.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 1, 1841; reprint 1973)

Works by this artist (744 items)

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William Zorach, Seated Girl (with hands under legs), 1930, cast and patinated plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1971.449.8
Seated Girl (with hands under legs)
Artist
Date1930
cast and patinated plaster
On view
William Zorach, Head of Abraham Walkowitz, 1943, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.130
Head of Abraham Walkowitz
Artist
Date1943
plaster
On view
William Zorach, Head of Robert Schwarzenbach, ca. 1930, marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.150
Head of Robert Schwarzenbach
Artist
Dateca. 1930
marble
On view
William Zorach, Head of Eudora, ca. 1960, cast and painted plaster on wood base, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the collection of the Zorach children, 1976.145.47
Head of Eudora
Artist
Dateca. 1960
cast and painted plaster on wood base
On view

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Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
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