George Catlin, Prairie Meadows Burning
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. · Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Open Access (CC0)View original →
George Catlin

Prairie Meadows Burning

1832

Current Collection

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Washington, D.C., United States

Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
27.8 × 35.9 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-136199

George Catlin painted ominous, swirling clouds of black smoke that loom out of the distance and drive the Indians before them. The artist was an eyewitness to such terrifying events, and described the fire’s “thunder rumbling as it goes.” But he also wrote that prairie fires made for “some of the most beautiful scenes that are to be witnessed in this country, and also some of the most sublime.” (…

Provenance

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Registry history

  • 1832 — Recorded in the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum

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