George CatlinAmerican, 1796–1872Dog Dance at Fort Snelling
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “Dog Dance at Fort Snelling” now? Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Unknown.
Washington, D.C., United States
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
“Considerable preparation was made for the occasion, and the Indians informed me, that if they could get a couple of dogs that were of no use about the garrison, they would give us their favourite, the ‘dog dance’. The two dogs were soon produced by the officers, and in presence of the whole assemblage of spectators, they butchered them and placed their two hearts and livers entire and uncooked, on a couple of crotches about as high as a man's face. These were then cut into strips, about an inch in width, and left hanging in this condition, with the blood and smoke upon them.
Read on
A spirited dance then ensued; and, in a confused manner, every one sung forth his own deeds of bravery in ejaculatory gutturals, which were almost deafening; and they danced up, two at a time to the stakes, and after spitting several times upon the liver and hearts, catched a piece in their mouths, bit it off and swallowed it. This was all done without losing the step (which was in time to their music), or interrupting the times of their voices.” George Catlin initially sketched the scene at Fort Snelling (in today’s Minnesota) in 1835. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 51, 1841; reprint 1973)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1985.66.437
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
In the life of George Catlin
The whole life1830–1836
Five journeys into the American West
St. Louis was his base for the five trips and the steamer Yellowstone of the American Fur Company his first transport; he visited 48 tribes in all (other accounts say about fifty). On trips along the Arkansas, Red and Mississippi rivers, in Florida and around the Great Lakes he painted more than 500 pictures and gathered a substantial collection of artifacts.
1836
First exhibition: about 500 works
Catlin’s first exhibition takes place in the United States, with about 500 works, but it makes little public stir.
1838
The Indian Gallery and public lectures
Back in the East, he gathers his paintings and Native artifacts into his own Indian Gallery and begins giving lectures on life among the Indians, touring Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and New York with the show. The paintings hang salon-style, in rows one above another, and visitors identify them by catalogue numbers.
May 1838
Congress declines to buy the Indian Gallery
The U.S. Congress rebuffs his offer to sell the collection: Catlin wanted his life’s work kept intact, but his later efforts to persuade officials in Washington failed as well.
after 1839
Gallery shows in London, Brussels and Paris
As a showman and entrepreneur, he draws public interest to the Indian Gallery with exhibitions in London, Brussels and Paris (including the Louvre). Charles Baudelaire praised him for bringing back to life the nobility and manliness of the chiefs.
November 1839
Moves his family to England
Finding no response in America to his view of Native culture, and hoping for a more receptive audience after Congress turned him down, he takes his family and collection across the Atlantic to England.