Two Comanche Girls

George Catlin, Two Comanche Girls, 1834, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.53-54
Copied George Catlin, Two Comanche Girls, 1834, oil on canvas, 2924 in. (73.760.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.53-54
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Artwork Details

Title
Two Comanche Girls
Date
1834
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
2924 in. (73.760.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Children
  • Indian — Comanche
  • Architecture Exterior — domestic — teepee
Object Number
1985.66.53-54

Artwork Description

The scene, painted by George Catlin at a Comanche village in 1834, shows “the wigwam of the Chief, his dogs, and his five children.” The artist also described the village as “six or eight hundred skin-covered lodges, made of poles and buffalo skins, in the manner precisely as those of the Sioux and other Missouri tribes . . . This village with its thousands of wild inmates, with horses and dogs, and wild sports and domestic occupations, presents a most curious scene; and the manners and looks of the people, a rich subject for the brush and the pen.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 42, 1841, reprint 1973, and 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)