ARTH 439: American Indian Art: Images

The Smithsonian Institute, in partnership with Native peoples and their allies, established the National Museum of the American Indian, which fosters a richer shared human experience through a more informed understanding of Native peoples.

George Catlin and His Indian Gallery celebrates a crown jewel in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection—the nearly complete surviving set of Catlin's first Indian Gallery painted in the 1830s. It is the most comprehensive display of Catlin’s work in more than a century and includes artifacts Catlin collected while in Plains Indian country. This exhibition is more than just the story of a single artist; it speaks to the encounter of two cultures in North America.