A Small Village of Remos Indians 1854 - 1869

George Catlin made this painting of a Remos village using oil on canvas. Catlin’s method was to travel extensively in the Americas, documenting Indigenous people. Here, his brushstrokes capture the thatch roofs and stilted construction of the buildings, along with the surrounding vegetation. His technique is not precise, but rather gestural, creating an atmosphere of immediacy. Consider the context: Catlin was a white American, creating these works for display back East, and in Europe. The paintings were thus made with a specific audience in mind, one that was fascinated by Indigenous life, but also complicit in its ongoing displacement. The very act of painting this scene was freighted with social and political meaning. This painting, then, should prompt us to think about the labor involved not just in its making, but in the world it represents, and the complex relationship between artist, subject, and viewer.