VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. A new exhibit of paintings is being shown at theSmithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington,D-C. Today, we tell about the man who painted them. His name wasGeorge Catlin. And in this first part of two programs, we tell howhe became one of the most important artists in American history.
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VOICE ONE:
George Catlin loved people. He loved their faces. He loved topaint faces expressing feelings. He understood how to paintfeelings. You can look at one of his paintings of a person and seepride, honor, respect, intelligence and humor. George Catlin is mostfamous for painting Native Americans.
In the eighteen-thirties, GeorgeCatlin traveled into areas of the American West to paint and recordthe history of Native Americans. He learned more about the cultureof Native Americans than most other white people of his time. GeorgeCatlin spent a good part of his life trying to show these people tothe world.
VOICE TWO:
George Catlin showed his paintings in Washington, D-C;Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City. Thousands of peoplecame to see them. Thousands more came to see them in London, Englandand in the famous Louvre Museum in Paris, France. George Catlinprobably did more than any other person to educate the public aboutthe great people who lived in North America before Europeansarrived.
We begin our story just a few years after George Catlin was born,in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was born in seventeen-ninety-six.His family soon moved to New York State near the great SusquehannaRiver.
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VOICE ONE:
George Catlin always said his early years were fun. He said hehad to have a book in one hand because he was in school. In theother hand he most often had a fishing pole. When he was not readingor fishing, he was drawing the natural world he saw outside eachday. George Catlin had little training in art. He mostly taughthimself. However, his father made sure that he had a good education.
His father was a lawyer and he wanted George to be a lawyer too.George did as his father wished and became a lawyer. However he wasnot happy.
VOICE TWO:
As a young man George Catlin was only happy when he was painting.He truly loved to paint. He decided to stop being a lawyer andbecome an artist. He moved into a small building in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania and began to paint pictures of people.
He was good at this and he loved the work. He painted very smallpictures of people. The pictures are called miniatures. Women oftenwore this kind of painting tied to a ribbon around their necks.Soon, he moved to New York City. He painted miniatures and largerpictures. He was becoming a well-known artist. He began paintingpictures of important people. One was the governor of the state ofNew York, DeWitt Clinton.
Life seemed good for the young artist. George Catlin was doingwhat he loved and he was making a living as an artist. However, hethought something was missing from his life and his work. He wantedvery much to paint something that was important.
He wanted to give something to the world of art that would bedifferent. But he had no idea what this could possibly be.
VOICE ONE:
In the eighteen-twenties, George Catlin saw something that wouldchange his life forever. It was a delegation of Native Americans.About fifteen representatives from several tribes were passingthrough Philadelphia. They were on their way to Washington, D-C tomeet with the president of the United States.
George Catlin had never seen anything like these NativeAmericans. Their skin was the color of the metal copper. Their hairand eyes were dark black. They wore clothes made of animal skins.They seemed fierce and dangerous.
Within a few days, George Catlin made an important decision. Hetold his family and friends he would study and paint NativeAmericans. His family was opposed to the idea. They told him it wasextremely dangerous. They told him he might be killed. George Catlinanswered his friends and family. He said, “Nothing but the loss ofmy life will prevent me from visiting their country and becomingtheir historian.”
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VOICE TWO:
In eighteen-thirty, George Catlin traveled to the city of SaintLouis, Missouri, near the Mississippi River. At that time SaintLouis was one of the last cities or towns you would find if you weretraveling west. There was not much beyond Saint Louis but the GreatPlains. There was nothing but wild, unexplored country. The countrybeyond Saint Louis could be extremely dangerous. Few white peoplehad ever been further than Saint Louis.
However, George Catlin met someone who knew about the lands ofthe far West and had been there. He also knew many of the NativeAmerican tribes that George Catlin wanted to visit. That man wasWilliam Clark.
Twenty-six years before, William Clark was part of the famousteam of Lewis and Clark who were the first white Americans toexplore the far West. They had traveled from Saint Louis to thePacific Ocean and back.
VOICE ONE:
George Catlin immediately had a friend in William Clark. MisterClark liked his idea of painting and learning about NativeAmericans.
He did not think George Catlin’s idea was dangerous. He did hisbest to help. General William Clark was the United StatesSuperintendent of Indian Affairs. He immediately took Mister Catlinalong on a trip up the Mississippi River to a place called Prairiedu Chien. Here George Catlin saw a gathering of Native Americantribes. He saw their clothes. He watched them and learned abouttheir culture. He listened to their language. This trip wasimportant to George Catlin because it strengthened his idea andplans to learn about and paint pictures of Native Americans.
VOICE TWO:
George Catlin quickly returned home to Philadelphia to raisemoney for his project. Within a year he traveled west again. Thistime he went north to Fort Union in an area called the Dakotas. Herehe set up his painting equipment and began to paint.
He said of this experience, “I have this day been painting apicture of the head chief of the Blackfoot nation. He is surroundedby his own warriors. He is an important man.”
The man George Catlin painted that day was namedStu-mick-o-sucks. He was chief of the Blood Tribe of the KainaiBlackfoot. George Catlin said the Blackfoot were a fierce andwar-like tribe. They lived in the area that is now the borderbetween the United States and Canada.
VOICE ONE:
The beautiful painting of Stu-mick-o-sucks shows this fiercechief at the height of his powers. The chief of the Blood Tribe wasabout thirty years old when George Catlin painted his picture.
His face is a deep copper color. He has red paint on his jaw. Hiseyes are intelligent and watchful. His black hair hangs down to hisshoulders. Part of his hair falls down between his eyes and is cutstraight across. A head covering made of small feathers surroundshis hair. One large feather is worn to the right side of his head.
Stu-mick-o-sucks is dressed in hisbest clothing for this painting. It is clothing that he would wearfor special ceremonies. On his chest is a round design made withseveral colors. The shoulders of his shirt are covered with piecesof cloth and hair to form other designs.
George Catlin captured in paint a man of honor and courage, aleader of his people. The artist had wanted to go west to paintNative Americans. With this painting and the many that were tofollow, George Catlin succeeded. He had found his life’s work.
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VOICE TWO:
Join us again next week when we continue the story of GeorgeCatlin and his efforts to paint the people of the American West. Ifyou have a computer that can link to the Internet, you can seeMister Catlin’s famous painting of Blackfoot Chief Stu-mick-o-sucksand many others.
Use a search engine and type the name George Catlin, C-A-T-L-I-N.Or type Renwick Gallery, R-E-N-W-I-C-K.
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byCaty Weaver. Our engineer was Keith Holmes. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS,a program in Special English on the Voice of America.