Scalp Dance, Sioux

George Catlin, Scalp Dance, Sioux, 1845-1848, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.438B
Copied George Catlin, Scalp Dance, Sioux, 1845-1848, oil on canvas, 26 1⁄4 x 32 1⁄2 in. (66.6 x 82.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.438B
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Scalp Dance, Sioux
Artist
Date
1845-1848
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
26 1⁄4 x 32 1⁄2 in. (66.6 x 82.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group — male
  • Western
  • Ceremony — Indian
  • Indian — Sioux
  • Ceremony — dance — Scalp Dance
Object Number
1985.66.438B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.438B

Artwork Description

While he was in Europe, George Catlin received a commission to paint fifteen large canvases from King Louis Philippe of France, who had spent two years in the United States in the late 1790s. Inspired, perhaps, by the art he saw in French museums, Catlin produced the most carefully detailed and highly finished works of his career. Here, he turned a rough sketch from Fort Pierre in 1832 into a full-blown and dramatically lit spectacle.