Hón-je-a-pút‑o, Wife of Bear-catcher

George Catlin, Hón-je-a-pút-o, Wife of Bear-catcher, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.28
George Catlin, Hón-je-a-pút-o, Wife of Bear-catcher, 1832, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.28
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Artwork Details

Title
Hón-je-a-pút‑o, Wife of Bear-catcher
Artist
Date
1832
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 — Kansas
  • Portrait female — Hon Je A Put O
Object Number
1985.66.28
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.28

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.” George Catlin probably painted Hón-je-a-pút-o, a member of the Kansas/Kaw tribe, at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 1, 1841; reprint 1973)

Works by this artist (3 items)

Dorothea Lange, Dreamer on Horseback, before 1959, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum acquisition, 1977.74.12
Dreamer on Horseback
Artist
Datebefore 1959
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Dorothea Lange, Texas farmer in California looking for work for himself and his family, ca. 1935, printed ca. 1935, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2016.40.3
Texas farmer in California looking for work for himself and…
Artist
Dateca. 1935, printed ca. 1935
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Dorothea Lange, White Angel Breadline, 1933, printed 1958-1966, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2020.1.3
White Angel Breadline
Artist
Date1933, printed 1958-1966
gelatin silver print
Not on view

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