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Me-sóu-wahk, Deer's Hair, Favorite Son of Kee-o-kúk

Object Details

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George Catlin painted Deer’s Hair at a Sac and Fox village in 1835. Catlin later described the portrait in his extensive writings Letters and Notes: “I have made a portrait of the wife of Kee-o-kuk, and of his favourite son, whom he intends to be his successor. These portraits are both painted, also, in the costume tunics precisely in which they were dressed.” Deer’s Hair succeeded his father as chief of the Sac and Fox in 1848. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 56, 1841; reprint 1973; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872
Sitter
Deer's Hair
Date
1835
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Type
Painting
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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