Painter

Innate Talent.

George Catlin became the first painter to devote his career to the West. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Catlin studied law and practiced as a lawyer for a few years before, as he put it, selling his "law library" and "converting their proceeds into brushes and paint pots." Without benefit of either a teacher or formal art training, he began his career as a painter of portrait miniatures in Philadelphia. In 1824 Catlin was elected to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1832 Catlin's career changed when he witnessed a delegation of Indians passing through Philadelphia on their way to Washington. These Indians appeared to Catlin as "lords of the forest" who walked with "silent and stoic dignity." He resolved that "nothing short of the loss of my life, shall prevent me from visiting their country, and of becoming their historian." Ignoring the...