Wa-ho-béck-ee, a Handsome Brave
1834
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Accession Number
1985.66.33
Tags
About this artwork
This member of the Osage tribe sat for his portrait in characteristic tribal markings, including a painted and shaved head as well as a painted upper body. George Catlin described Wa-ho-béck-ee as âa brave; said to be the handsomest man in the nation; with a profusion of wampum on his neck, and a fan in his hand made of the eagle's tail.â Wa-ho-béck-ee sat for his portrait at Fort Gibson (in present-day Oklahoma) in 1834. (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlinâs Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhi...
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...