George Catlin 1796-1872

Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York
Private Collection, San Marino, California, 1953
Descended in the family of the above
Zaplin-Lampert Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Acquired from the above

Brian W. Dippie, Therese Thau Heyman, Christopher Mulvey, Joan Carpenter Troccoli, George Catlin and His Indian Gallery, New York, 2002, p. 88

Good condition; under UV: scattered dots and dashes of retouching in sky. Board size 18 ½ by 24 ½ in.
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According to George Catlin, the seminal event that changed the course of his life occurred on an 1828 trip to Philadelphia. There, the lawyer-turned-portraitist observed a visiting delegation of Indians and envisioned a purpose "worthy the life-time of one man" (quoted in Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, 1841, vol. 1). From then on, Catlin spent his career either painting Native Americans or struggling to sell his works in America and Europe. Catlin's great innovation was in rendering his subjects in situ, unlike previous artists who usually painted the Indians' portraits during their Eastern visits. In the spring of 1830, Catlin departed for St. Louis, Missouri, known as the "Gateway to the West." Over the next six years, he made several western excursions, including a widely reported 1832 journey up the Missouri aboard the American Fur Company's steamboat Yellow Stone on her maiden voyage to Fort Union, North Dakota.

In the untamed West, animal attacks were a constant threat, and a handwritten note attached to the reverse of this painting contains a first-hand account of the type of dangerous encounter depicted in the image:  

"The Grizzly Bear is the terror (the monster) of the North American great plains and Rocky Mountains; the most powerful and the most dangerous to human as well as to animal life; often as heavy as an ordinary ox, and with a brutal ferocity that lacks caution or fear, and an imperious rush upon every living thing that it meets. A couple of these huge creatures had been discovered within a few miles of the fur companie's [sic] Fort, at the mouth of Yellow Stone River, whilst the author was there, in 1832. A large party of K'nisteneux Indians being encamped around the fort at the time, some five or six of their best lancers mounted their horses and started for them, & the author in company. There was no manourvering [sic] necessary in approaching them, for the moment that they discovered the party approaching, they came at full gallop upon them. The attack was mutual, and the rencontre terrible. The expertness of the lancers, one making the feint whist another gave the blow, succeeded, after a furious struggle. The male, the strongest of the two, fell from a blow of the war club, and its skin is now in the author's collection; The female, with several severe wounds, seeing her companion fall, escaped pursuit by crossing the Missouri river."

By 1838, advertisements appeared for Catlin's "Indian Gallery," which was comprised of over five hundred paintings and numerous Native American artifacts that toured through New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. One year later Catlin transported his gallery to London, but met with little financial success. The artist's 1844 North American Indian Portfolio, which contained thirty-one full-color prints of works from his gallery, was also unprofitable due to its prohibitive cost. Catlin's work finally achieved widespread popularity when Currier and Ives began selling affordable, vibrant lithographs of his paintings to both British and American consumers; Indians Attacking the Grizzly Bear proved to be one of their most popular images.