Artwork
Three Minatarree Indians
Three Minatarree Indians is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist George Catlin. It dates from 1861 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1861, *Three Minatarree Indians* is an oil painting executed on card that has been affixed to a paperboard support. The work presents three figures dressed in vivid attire, each rendered with careful attention to the decorative elements of their clothing and accessories. The scene is set against a muted, open landscape that serves to emphasize the figures and their cultural markers.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts three members of the Minatarree, a subgroup of the Plains peoples, each displaying distinct regalia: a beaded skirt and fan, a feathered headdress with a bundled object, and a bow with arrows complemented by red‑orange leggings. The portrait highlights individual identity through dress and accoutrements, offering a visual record of personal and tribal adornment practices.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on a card substrate, the painting demonstrates the flat, detailed surface typical of American folk portraiture. Brushwork is precise, especially in rendering beadwork, feather patterns, and textile textures, while the background is rendered in soft, atmospheric tones that recede, allowing the figures to dominate the visual field.
History & Provenance
The work belongs to the prolific output of George Catlin, a former lawyer who turned to art as a means of documenting Native American cultures. Between 1830 and 1835 he made five expeditions across the frontier, producing a large body of portraiture that later formed the basis of his ethnographic publications.
Context
Created during a period when the United States was rapidly expanding westward, the painting reflects Catlin’s broader mission to preserve visual records of Plains peoples before their societies were altered by settlement. It aligns with his systematic effort to compile images and notes that would later inform both scholarly and popular understandings of Indigenous life.
Artist & collection
Artist
George Catlin ( KAT-lin; July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the American frontier.
Bulls Fighting
Expedition Encamped on a Texas Prairie. April 1686
An Alligator's Nest
Mrs. George Catlin (Clara Bartlet Gregory)
Chief of the Taensa Indians Receiving La Salle. March 20, 1682
A Small Village - Payaguas Indians
Omaha Chief, His Wife, and a Warrior
Father Hennepin Leaving the Mississippi to Join La Salle. May 8, 1680
