George Catlin gained renown for his nineteenth-century paintings of
Indians and their lands, sympathetic portraits that counterbalanced
those of other Americans eager to conquer and dominate both. In
this first book to probe the attitudes that shaped and constrained
Catlin's career, John Hausdoerffer argues that, despite his
sympathies, Catlin's work embodied the same prevailing sentiment
toward Nature that sanctioned Indian removal and thus undercut his
own alternate vision for westward expansion.
Some see Catlin as an ethical spokesman for Indians, others as a
mere exploiter. Hausdoerffer steers a middle course, recognizing
Catlin as an entrepreneur without invalidating his ethical
perceptions. Yet through a close reading of Catlin's writings,
Hausdoerffer adjusts interpretations of Catlin as a
proto-environmentalist and friend of the Indian, arguing that
contradictions in his work reveal his failure to comprehend his own
complicity in Native America's demise.
Hausdoerffer examines key events from Catlin's career to show
how his work consistently teeters between resistance and consent to
nineteenth-century ideologies of Nature. He reviews Catlin's
decision to devote his talents to Native American concerns, his
journey west to document "vanishing" lifeways, his presentation of
his findings to American audiences, and his performance of his work
in Europe. He also shows the importance of Yellowstone National
Park in understanding Catlin, given his vision for it as a means of
preserving what is essential about environments and cultures.
Exploring the tension between Catlin's search for success and
his awareness of the plight of his subjects, Hausdoerffer argues
that Catlin's tacit acceptance of the inevitable demise of Native
culture undermined his interest in fomenting political change.
Catlin's lament for the vanishing Indian combined with his belief
that art preserves the essence of nature ultimately contradicted
his hopes for Indian justice and environmental preservation.
"Catlin's Lament" challenges views of Catlin's career as an
ethical downfall, revealing instead a complexity of character that
complicates views of dissent in the Jacksonian era. More important,
it questions underlying assumptions of Manifest Destiny, showing
that they were so deeply set in American life that even critics of
the age helped perpetuate them.
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