Clay Bluffs, Twenty Miles above the Mandans

George Catlin, Clay Bluffs, Twenty Miles above the Mandans, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.401
Copied George Catlin, Clay Bluffs, Twenty Miles above the Mandans, 1832, oil on canvas, 11 1⁄4 x 14 1⁄2 in. (28.6 x 36.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.401
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Clay Bluffs, Twenty Miles above the Mandans
Artist
Date
1832
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
11 1⁄4 x 14 1⁄2 in. (28.6 x 36.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — river
  • Landscape — mountain
  • Western
  • Landscape — plain
Object Number
1985.66.401
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.401

Artwork Description

“These curious bluffs must be seen as they are in nature; or else in a painting, where their colours are faithfully given, or they lose their picturesque beauty, which consists in the variety of their vivid tints. The strata of clay are alternating from red to yellow---white---brown and dark blue; and so curiously arranged, as to form the most pleasing and singular effects.” George Catlin sketched this scene in 1832, during his long voyage on the Missouri River. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 10, 1841; reprint 1973)