Múk-a-tah-mish-o-káh-kaik, Black Hawk, Prominent Sac Chief

George Catlin, Múk-a-tah-mish-o-káh-kaik, Black Hawk, Prominent Sac Chief, 1832, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.2

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Artwork Details

Title: Múk-a-tah-mish-o-káh-kaik, Black Hawk, Prominent Sac Chief
Artist: George Catlin
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: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Dress — Indian dress
Indian — Sauk and Fox
Portrait male — Black Hawk
Portrait male — Black Hawk — bust
Object Number: 1985.66.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.2

Artwork Description

“When I painted this chief, he was dressed in a plain suit of buckskin, with strings of wampum in his ears and on his neck, and held in his hand, his medicine-bag, which was the skin of a black hawk, from which he had taken his name, and the tail of which made him a fan, which he was almost constantly using.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 56, 1841; reprint 1973)