Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-to-toh-pa - Mandan

George Catlin

National Gallery of Art

This is a painting of a large group of people outdoors. In the center, two people face each other, one painting a portrait of the other. Every person in the image except the painter has reddish-brown skin; the painter has pale, yellowish skin. To the left of center, the person being painted stands tall, wearing intricately decorated clothing. They wear a long, tan garment painted with several designs, such as feathers, a handprint, and a colorful circle. The front of the garment has a wide red stripe running down it. On their legs, they wear tan pants with long black tassels on the side. Down the sides of the long garment and the pants are bright squares of teal, yellow, and red. On top of their long black hair, this person wears a long headdress made of white and black feathers that travel from their head all the way to the ground. They also wear thin red horns on their head, and they hold a tall staff or spear decorated with feathers and red fringe. On the right, the person with pale skin paints a depiction of the staff-wielder on a tan canvas. This person holds a palette and several brushes. They wear a simple brown tunic, brown pants, a white collar, and a brown hat. Surrounding these two people is a large crowd of other people kneeling, sitting, standing, or riding on horseback. These onlookers have a range of expressions, and they wear a variety of clothes. Most of them wear tan garments, and some have necklaces around their necks or red paint on their arms. Many of them have feathers in their black hair. Close to us, some small dogs sit among the seated onlookers. The group is positioned on green, grassy ground, with tall trees in the distance. The sky overhead is blue-gray, and there appears to be a blue river off to the right. The entire composition is framed within a dark oval border, outside of which is plain, off-white paper.