Painting the Lengua Chief 1854 - 1869

George Catlin produced this painting of the Lengua Chief, using oil on canvas, during a period of intense interest in the indigenous populations of the Americas. The Lengua were one of many tribes living in the Gran Chaco region of South America, now part of Paraguay and Argentina. Catlin's romantic portrayal invites us to see the Lengua as noble and dignified, but it also reinforces a view of them as 'primitive'. His work was exhibited in commercial galleries and museums where the public saw the Lengua as evidence of a vanishing way of life that existed outside the industrialized world. Understanding this image requires us to research the history of colonialism, ethnography, and the art market of the 19th century. By studying Catlin's other work, his biographies, and reviews of his exhibitions, we might better understand the place of this image in the wider context of social attitudes.