George CatlinAmerican, 1796–1872Span-e-o-née-kaw, The Spaniard
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “Span-e-o-née-kaw, The Spaniard” 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
Before he began his extensive travels in the West, George Catlin found his first Indian subjects in the East. Nine members of a Winnebago delegation from present-day Wisconsin sat for him in Washington, D.C., in 1828. Catlin wrote that he had painted the portraits of “Won-de-tow-a (the wonder), Wa-kon-chash-kaw (he who comes on the thunder), Nau-naw-pay-ee (the soldier), Span-e-o-nee-kaw (the Spaniard) Hoo-wan-ee-kaw (the little elk), No-ah-choo-she-kaw (he who breaks the bushes), and Naugh-haigh-ke-kaw (he who moistens the wood), all distinguished men of the tribe; and all at full length, as they will be seen standing in my Collection.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 52, 1841; reprint 1973)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1985.66.214
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 life1828
Married: Clara Bartlett Gregory Catlin
1830
First journey west with Governor Clark
He accompanies William Clark, governor of the Missouri Territory, on a diplomatic mission to Fort Crawford and then up the Mississippi into Native territory.
1830–1836
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.
