George Catlin (American, 1796-1872). "Ball Play Dance" lithograph with original hand coloring from deluxe limited edition of Catlin's "North American Indian Portfolio: Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America," among the most significant accounts of Native American life, printed by Day & Haghe in London, 1844. George Catlin was the first accomplished artist to travel among and visually document the customs and traditions of the Plains Indians. Catlin hoped that his artwork and written observations would demonstrate the importance of respecting and preserving Native American culture. Please note, this is an original hand-colored antique lithograph that has been professionally mounted in a custom, museum quality frame with under glass. Size (sight view): 14.375" L x 18.875" W (36.5 cm x 47.9 cm) Size (frame): 25.625" L x 30.125" W (65.1 cm x 76.5 cm)

In 1830, George Catlin - lawyer turned artist - left his home in Pennsylvania to travel the American West and visually document North American Indians and their ways of life. After 8 years among the major tribes of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, he created an "Indian Gallery," comprised of more than 400 paintings and an expansive collection of artifacts he had collected during his travels. In addition to exhibiting these, Catlin published a selection of his finest works in the "North American Indian Portfolio" in order to expand his audience.

Catlin's oeuvre stems from a lifelong fascination with Native Americans and a desire to preserve, in his words, "the looks and customs of the vanishing races of native man in America" with his art. This passion took root when Catlin was just a nine-year-old boy; exploring the woods of southcentral New York along the Susquehanna River in 1805, he came upon an Oneida Indian who greeted him in a warm, kind-hearted manner. This memory purportedly stayed with the artist throughout his career.

Despite the fact that Catlin had no formal training as an artist, he did have an undeniable talent for drawing. Although his father encouraged him to study law instead of art, the legal trials were far less interesting to Catlin that the imagery before him. Catlin found himself sketching judges, offenders, and jury members, and within a few years time, he decided to sell his law books and move to Philadelphia to pursue art. Lacking direction, he painted portraits but was dissatisfied with these subjects until, in approximately 1828, a delegation of Native Americans stopped in Philadelphia en route to Washington, D.C. and Catlin was reportedly drawn to what he described as "their classic beauty." Seduced by the romance of the "disappearing races", Catlin recognized that smallpox and whiskey were decimating the indigenous peoples, and vowed that "nothing short of the loss of my life, shall prevent me from visiting their country, and of becoming their historian." So in 1830, Catlin headed West where he stayed for six years (returning East most winters to his family) and painted 300 portraits and almost 175 ritual scenes and landscapes. In 1837, following his return to New York, Catlin set up an exhibition in salon style (stacked from floor to ceiling) that made quite an impression.

As an artist, Catlin was both honored and criticized during his lifetime; however, the fact that he had created the largest of pre-photographic imagery depicting Native americans - a remarkable record - is undeniable. Bruce Watson, in his review of a 2002 Renwick Gallery exhibition of Catlin's work, wrote, "Though not the first artist to paint American Indians, Catlin was the first to picture them so extensively in their own territories and one of the few to portray them as fellow human beings rather than savages. His more realistic approach grew out of his appreciation for a people who, he wrote, 'had been invaded, their morals corrupted, their lands wrested from them, their customs changed, and therefore lost to the world.' Such empathy was uncommon in 1830, the year the federal Indian Removal Act forced Southeastern tribes to move to what is now Oklahoma along the disastrous 'Trail of Tears.'" (Bruce Watson, "George Catlin's Obsession," Smithsonian Magazine, December, 2002)

In a famous passage from the preface of his "North American Indian Portfolio", Catlin describes how the sight of several tribal chiefs in Philadelphia inspired him to record their way of life: "the history and customs of such a people, preserved by pictorial illustrations, are themes worthy of the lifetime of one man, and nothing short of the loss of my life shall prevent me from visiting their country and becoming their historian". Understanding that the Native Americans' future was in jeopardy, Catlin he worked tirelessly, always feeling the pressure of time, to record what he saw - an artist-as-ethnographer. From 1832 to 1837 Catlin sketched the tribes during the summer months and during the winters he would paint the imagery in oils. In addition to exhibiting these, he published a selection of the finest of images from this record in the "North American Indian Portfolio" in order to expand his audience. "Ball Play Dance" was part of this publishing venture.

Cf. William S. Reese, The Production of Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio, 1844-1876.

Provenance: private Colorado Collection; Private Collection of a Private Colorado Family

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Please note: this is an original hand-colored antique lithograph - it is not a later reproduction. The artwork has been professionally mounted in a custom, museum quality frame with the finest materials - high quality mattes and mouldings - under glass. Artwork has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be in excellent condition. There are just a few minor scuffs to the frame finish, but otherwise, the frame is excellent, fit with suspension wire, and ready to display. Accompanied by Mary Williams Fine Art label with a list price of $6000.