Vapor Bath - Minatarree 1861 - 1869

George Catlin made this painting, Vapor Bath - Minatarree, with oil on canvas. Catlin was an American painter who traveled through the American West, documenting the life and customs of Native American tribes, including the Minatarree, also known as the Hidatsa. Here, Catlin depicts a traditional sweat lodge ceremony. The details are quite specific: the structure of the lodge, the placement of the fire, the clothing and appearance of those taking part. But how should we understand Catlin’s project? Was he a sympathetic observer, a recorder of soon-to-vanish ways of life? Or was he also an entrepreneur, keen to capitalize on the public’s fascination with the ‘exotic’ cultures of the ‘new’ territories? To address this question, historians often turn to other sources such as letters, diaries, and newspaper reports, to understand the context in which Catlin was working and the audience for whom the art was produced. It’s this web of social and institutional relations that gives the art its full meaning.