CATLIN, GEORGE

born July 26, 1796, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., U.S. died Dec. 23, 1872, Jersey City, N.J. American artist and author, whose paintings of American Indian scenes constitute an invaluable record of those vanished cultures. Catlin practiced law for a short time but in 1823 turned to portrait painting, in which he was self-taught. He had been interested in Indian life from his boyhood, and in 1829 he became determined to record their way of life before their heritage disappeared under the onslaught of the advancing American frontier. He began a series of visits to various tribes, chiefly in the Great Plains. He made more than 500 paintings and sketches based on his observations during his travels and exhibited these works in the United States and Europe from 1837 to 1845 as the Gallery of Indians. In 1841 he published his best known book, the two-volume Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, which was illustrated with many engravings. Catlin traveled to Central and South America from 1852 to 1857, adding sketches to his collection, and then he lived in Europe between 1858 and 1870. The bulk of the Catlin collection, which is mainly of ethnographic and historical interest, was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1879. His other published works include Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio: Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America (1845); Catlin's Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe (1848); Life Amongst the Indians (1867); and Last Rambles Amongst the Indians of the Rocky Mountains and the Andes (1867).