George Catlin

Joshua Bellin (La Roche College)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

“A monument to a dying race, and a monument to myself”: so George Catlin, antebellum painter of the American Indians, described his “Indian Gallery”. Largely self-taught and self-supporting, Catlin undertook the most ambitious documentary project of his time, his aim being to produce a “graphic delineation of the living manners, customs, and character of an interesting race of people, who are rapidly passing away from the face of the earth . . . thus snatching from a hasty oblivion what could be saved for the benefit of posterity, and perpetuating it, as a fair and just monument, to the memory of a truly lofty and noble race”. These words from Catlin's

Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians

(1841) capture both the laudable and…

2026 words

Citation: Bellin, Joshua. "George Catlin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=787, accessed 19 March 2024.]

787 George Catlin 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.