Wáh-pe-say, The White

George Catlin, Wáh-pe-say, The White, 1830, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.250
Copied George Catlin, Wáh-pe-say, The White, 1830, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.250
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Artwork Details

Title
Wáh-pe-say, The White
Artist
Date
1830
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 — Wea
  • Portrait male — White
Object Number
1985.66.250
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.250

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 the White, a member of the Wea/Miami tribe, at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) in 1830. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 1, 1841; reprint 1973)