The Tower, 1100 Miles above St. Louis

George Catlin, The Tower, 1100 Miles above St. Louis, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.378
Copied George Catlin, The Tower, 1100 Miles above St. Louis, 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., 1985.66.378
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
The Tower, 1100 Miles above St. Louis
Artist
Date
1832
Location
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
  • Landscape — mountain
  • Western
Object Number
1985.66.378
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.378

Artwork Description

George Catlin described this scene as “a high and remarkable clay bluff, rising to the height of some hundreds of feet from the water, and having in distance, the castellated appearance of a fortification.” He painted this image in 1832 while on a lengthy voyage northwest on the Missouri River. Every bluff on the Upper Missouri reminded Catlin, a true student of the picturesque, of a castle, turret, or tower. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 32, 1841, reprint 1973; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)