Wa-másh-ee-sheek, He Who Takes Away; Wa-chésh-uk, War; Mink-chésk, Three Distinguished Young Men

George Catlin, Wa-másh-ee-sheek, He Who Takes Away; Wa-chésh-uk, War; Mink-chésk, Three Distinguished Young Men, 1834, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.38-40
Copied George Catlin, Wa-másh-ee-sheek, He Who Takes Away; Wa-chésh-uk, War; Mink-chésk, Three Distinguished Young Men, 1834, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.38-40
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Artwork Details

Title
Wa-másh-ee-sheek, He Who Takes Away; Wa-chésh-uk, War; Mink-chésk, Three Distinguished Young Men
Artist
Date
1834
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
  • Portrait male — Mink-chesk — full length
  • Portrait male — Wa-chesh-uk — full length
  • Portrait male — Wa-mash-ee-sheek — full length
  • Object — weapon — axe
  • Indian — Osage
  • Dress — Indian dress
  • Portrait group
Object Number
1985.66.38-40
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.38-40

Artwork Description

George Catlin described these members of the Osage tribe as “uniformly dressed in skins of their own dressing---strictly maintaining their primitive looks and manners, without the slightest appearance of innovations, excepting in the blankets, which have been recently admitted to their use instead of the buffalo robes . . .” Catlin painted this group portrait at Fort Gibson (in present-day Oklahoma) in 1834. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 38, 1841; reprint 1973)