Blackbird’s Grave, a Back View, Prairies Enameled with Flowers

George Catlin, Blackbird's Grave, a Back View, Prairies Enameled with Flowers, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.365
Copied George Catlin, Blackbird's Grave, a Back View, Prairies Enameled with Flowers, 1832, oil on canvas, 11 1⁄4 x 14 3⁄8 in. (28.5 x 36.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.365
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Blackbird’s Grave, a Back View, Prairies Enameled with Flowers
Artist
Date
1832
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
11 1⁄4 x 14 3⁄8 in. (28.5 x 36.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Monument — gravestone — Blackbird
  • Landscape — United States
  • Landscape — plain
  • Western
Object Number
1985.66.365
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.365

Artwork Description

To suggest the vastness of the Great Plains in his small landscapes, George Catlin often assumed an elevated viewpoint. Blackbird’s grave, a site visited by Lewis and Clark nearly three decades earlier, was the final resting-place of an Omaha chief who had been buried astride his favorite horse. The artist painted this work in 1832 on his first extended voyage up the Missouri River.