Medicine Buffalo of the Sioux

George Catlin, Medicine Buffalo of the Sioux, 1837-1839, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.485
Copied George Catlin, Medicine Buffalo of the Sioux, 1837-1839, oil on canvas, 19 5⁄8 x 27 1⁄2 in. (49.7 x 70.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.485
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Medicine Buffalo of the Sioux
Artist
Date
1837-1839
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
19 5⁄8 x 27 1⁄2 in. (49.7 x 70.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group — male
  • Ceremony — Indian — Medicine Ceremony
  • Indian — Sioux
  • Indian — Dakota
  • Western
Object Number
1985.66.485
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.485

Artwork Description

George Catlin described this magical image as “the figure of a buffalo cut out of the turf on the prairie, and visited by the Indians going on a buffalo-hunt.” (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)

Exhibitions

Media - 1985.66.404 - SAAM-1985.66.404_1 - 9039
Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists
October 11, 2019–March 13, 2020
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Picturing the American Buffalo: George Catlin and Modern Native American Artists examines representations of buffalo and their integration into the lives of Native Americans on the Great Plains in the 1830s and in the twentieth century.