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
- 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
- Dress — Indian dress
- Indian — Sauk and Fox
- Portrait male — Black Hawk
- Portrait male — Black Hawk — bust
- Object Number
- 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)
