John Mix Stanley
Encyclopedia
John Mix Stanley was an artist-explorer, an American
painter of landscapes, and Native American
portraits and tribal life. Born in the Finger Lakes
region of New York, he started painting signs and portraits as a young man, but in 1842 traveled to the American West to paint Native American life. In 1846 he exhibited a gallery of 85 of his paintings in Cincinnati and Louisville
. During the Mexican-American War, he joined Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney's expedition to California and painted accounts of the campaign, as well as aspects of the Oregon Territory.
Stanley continued to travel and paint in the West, and mounted a major exhibit of more than 150 works at the Smithsonian Institution
in 1852. Although he had some Congressional interest in purchasing the collection, he was unsuccessful in completing a sale, and and never recovered his expenses for a decade of intensive work and travel. In 1854 he exhibited a 42-scene panorama
of western scenes in Washington, DC: Baltimore
, New York
and London
, but it has been lost. More than 200 of his paintings, maps and other work being held at the Smithsonian were lost in an 1865 fire. The irreparable loss of most of his works caused the eclipse of Stanley's reputation for some time in American art history, but today his few surviving works are held by national and numerous regional museums.
to Seth and Sally (McKinney) Stanley. He was orphaned at the age of 12. At age 14, Stanley was`apprenticed to a coach maker. He taught himself painting skills, and at the age of 20 moved to Detroit, the largest city in the Michigan Territory
, and started doing itinerant work.
and Chicago
. In the latter part of the decade, he returned East, apparently to Washington, DC where he briefly had a studio.
In 1842, traveling with Sumner Dickerman of Troy, New York
as an assistant, Stanley went to the American Southwest expressly to paint Native Americans, perhaps inspired by the work of the artist George Catlin
. They settled at Fort Gibson
in present-day Oklahoma
, then part of Indian Territory
; the site was a crossroads of many Indian nations. In the summer of 1843, Stanley went to the council at Tahlequah
called by the Cherokee
chief John Ross
and the Republic of Texas
. An estimated 10,000 Native Americans of 17 tribes attended to negotiate peace with Texas, as well as many different European Americans. Stanley spent four weeks there and worked intensely through the next three months to complete his numerous paintings of individuals and tribal groups. He also spent more time with Cherokee and Creek groups, painting portraits. That fall he accompanied the party of the US Indian agent
Pierce M. Butler
to a council with Comanche
and other Plains Indians
, probably in southwest Oklahoma near present-day Texas. In early 1846 in Cincinnati, Ohio
, he and Dickerman exhibited a gallery of 85 Indian paintings, which received favorable reviews there and in Louisville, Kentucky
. Stanley left Dickerman in charge and returned to the West.
At the outbreak of the Mexican War
in 1846, Stanley was appointed a draftsman for the Corps of Topographical Engineers to Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney's expedition to California and the Oregon Territory. He produced many sketches and paintings of the campaign, making more finished paintings after reaching San Francisco in early 1847. Some works were reproduced as engravings. He traveled further north to the Oregon and Washington territories to paint landscapes and Native Americans, and worked through part of 1848.
That year Stanley traveled to Hawaii, where he spent nearly twelve months painting portraits of King Kamehameha III
, his wife, and the royal family. After his return to the East, he organized his large gallery of Indian portraits and paintings to be mounted in several cities, including New York. In 1852 he gained a major exhibit in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Institution of his Native American gallery, which attracted much attention in the city. As he noted in the preface to the catalogue published by the Smithsonian, Stanley portrayed 43 tribes, and his paintings represented a decade of work, with extensive travel in the West and the Hawaiian Islands. His collection numbered nearly 200 and was celebrated at the time. Seth Eastman, also an artist of Native American life, wrote to Stanley of his gallery: "that I consider the artistic merits of yours far superior to Mr. Catlin's; and they give a better idea of the Indian than any works in Mr. Catlin's collection." Stanley interested members of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in purchasing his gallery, but could not gain approval and the Smithsonian did not have sufficient funds for it. He struggled financially, trying to keep his collection together in hopes of gaining Congressional support, rather than sell it privately.
In 1853, Stanley was appointed chief artist for Isaac I. Stevens' expedition to survey a northern railroad route to the Pacific Coast; he made the most of this chance for travel and work in the Northwest. They traveled from St. Paul Minnesota Territory
to the Washington Territory
. Stanley observed gatherings of nearly 1500 Assiniboine, traveled to a distant Blackfoot
(Piegan) village, and saw a large hunting party of several hundred, including families from the Pembina
area near the Canadian border, who were known as the Red River of the North
hunters. They were generations of European trappers who lived on the frontier and had Indian wives and mixed-race children. (In Canada descendants of such families have achieved recognition as the Métis
ethnic group). They had come to the area for bison
hunting, as the herds were still vast on the prairies. Stanley painted and sketched many Northwest landmarks, which were reproduced in lithographs for inclusion in Stevens' last volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports. These gained wide circulation and added to Stanley's reputation. His portraits of two early Oregon settlers are held by the Oregon Historical Society. Later in the West, he painted Comanche
warriors in their natural environment. The party returned that year to the East, crossing the Isthmus of Panama
from the west and arriving by ship in New York in January 1854.
After his return, Stanley worked intensely at painting and organizing a large panorama of western scenes from the northern survey route. His exhibition of 42 scenes went on display in Washington, DC on September 1, 1854, accompanied by a 23-page booklet of descriptions. Visitors said they needed two hours to see everything in the panorama. This exhibit represented the last of Stanley's great western adventures and was highly praised by Washington papers. It was shown in Baltimore for three weeks, and went on to New York and London
. The panorama later disappeared and historians have not been able to trace it.
Stanley finally returned to Detroit in 1864, where he set up his art studio. He essentially remained in Detroit the rest of his life, helping to found a forerunner of the Detroit Institute of Arts
and its School of Arts. He also helped incorporate the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, DC; originally he had hoped his Indian gallery would be the basis of its collection.
His surviving works are held by national museums as well as numerous regional institutions:
National:
Regional:
hunt. Stanley described what the plates represent and also provided historical and cultural information about each tribe or area.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter of landscapes, and Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
portraits and tribal life. Born in the Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a pattern of lakes in the west-central section of Upstate New York in the United States. They are a popular tourist destination. The lakes are long and thin , each oriented roughly on a north-south axis. The two longest, Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, are among the deepest in...
region of New York, he started painting signs and portraits as a young man, but in 1842 traveled to the American West to paint Native American life. In 1846 he exhibited a gallery of 85 of his paintings in Cincinnati and Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. During the Mexican-American War, he joined Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney's expedition to California and painted accounts of the campaign, as well as aspects of the Oregon Territory.
Stanley continued to travel and paint in the West, and mounted a major exhibit of more than 150 works at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in 1852. Although he had some Congressional interest in purchasing the collection, he was unsuccessful in completing a sale, and and never recovered his expenses for a decade of intensive work and travel. In 1854 he exhibited a 42-scene panorama
Panorama
A panorama is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model....
of western scenes in Washington, DC: Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but it has been lost. More than 200 of his paintings, maps and other work being held at the Smithsonian were lost in an 1865 fire. The irreparable loss of most of his works caused the eclipse of Stanley's reputation for some time in American art history, but today his few surviving works are held by national and numerous regional museums.
Early life and education
John Mix Stanley was born in Canandaigua, New YorkCanandaigua (city), New York
Canandaigua is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA, of which it is the county seat. The population was 11,264 at the 2000 census...
to Seth and Sally (McKinney) Stanley. He was orphaned at the age of 12. At age 14, Stanley was`apprenticed to a coach maker. He taught himself painting skills, and at the age of 20 moved to Detroit, the largest city in the Michigan Territory
Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
, and started doing itinerant work.
Career
Stanley moved to the frontier town of Detroit in 1832 and became an itinerant painter of signs and portraits; he traveled also to Fort Snelling, GalenaGalena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In the latter part of the decade, he returned East, apparently to Washington, DC where he briefly had a studio.
In 1842, traveling with Sumner Dickerman of Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
as an assistant, Stanley went to the American Southwest expressly to paint Native Americans, perhaps inspired by the work of the artist George Catlin
George Catlin
George Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...
. They settled at Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson, now located in Oklahoma and designated Fort Gibson Historical Site, guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 until 1890...
in present-day Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, then part of Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
; the site was a crossroads of many Indian nations. In the summer of 1843, Stanley went to the council at Tahlequah
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears. The city's population was 15,753 at the 2010 census. It...
called by the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
chief John Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)
John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828–1866...
and the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
. An estimated 10,000 Native Americans of 17 tribes attended to negotiate peace with Texas, as well as many different European Americans. Stanley spent four weeks there and worked intensely through the next three months to complete his numerous paintings of individuals and tribal groups. He also spent more time with Cherokee and Creek groups, painting portraits. That fall he accompanied the party of the US Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
Pierce M. Butler
Pierce M. Butler
Pierce Mason Butler was an American soldier and statesman who served as the 56th Governor of South Carolina from 1836 to 1838...
to a council with Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
and other Plains Indians
Plains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
, probably in southwest Oklahoma near present-day Texas. In early 1846 in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, he and Dickerman exhibited a gallery of 85 Indian paintings, which received favorable reviews there and in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Stanley left Dickerman in charge and returned to the West.
At the outbreak of the Mexican War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
in 1846, Stanley was appointed a draftsman for the Corps of Topographical Engineers to Colonel Stephen Watts Kearney's expedition to California and the Oregon Territory. He produced many sketches and paintings of the campaign, making more finished paintings after reaching San Francisco in early 1847. Some works were reproduced as engravings. He traveled further north to the Oregon and Washington territories to paint landscapes and Native Americans, and worked through part of 1848.
That year Stanley traveled to Hawaii, where he spent nearly twelve months painting portraits of King Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III
Kamehameha III was the King of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name was Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kiwalao Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa Kalani Waiakua Kalanikau Iokikilo Kiwalao i ke kapu Kamehameha when he ascended the throne.Under his...
, his wife, and the royal family. After his return to the East, he organized his large gallery of Indian portraits and paintings to be mounted in several cities, including New York. In 1852 he gained a major exhibit in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Institution of his Native American gallery, which attracted much attention in the city. As he noted in the preface to the catalogue published by the Smithsonian, Stanley portrayed 43 tribes, and his paintings represented a decade of work, with extensive travel in the West and the Hawaiian Islands. His collection numbered nearly 200 and was celebrated at the time. Seth Eastman, also an artist of Native American life, wrote to Stanley of his gallery: "that I consider the artistic merits of yours far superior to Mr. Catlin's; and they give a better idea of the Indian than any works in Mr. Catlin's collection." Stanley interested members of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in purchasing his gallery, but could not gain approval and the Smithsonian did not have sufficient funds for it. He struggled financially, trying to keep his collection together in hopes of gaining Congressional support, rather than sell it privately.
In 1853, Stanley was appointed chief artist for Isaac I. Stevens' expedition to survey a northern railroad route to the Pacific Coast; he made the most of this chance for travel and work in the Northwest. They traveled from St. Paul Minnesota Territory
Minnesota Territory
The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Minnesota.-History:...
to the Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
. Stanley observed gatherings of nearly 1500 Assiniboine, traveled to a distant Blackfoot
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
(Piegan) village, and saw a large hunting party of several hundred, including families from the Pembina
Pembina, North Dakota
Pembina is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 592 at the 2010 census.The area of Pembina was long inhabited by various indigenous peoples...
area near the Canadian border, who were known as the Red River of the North
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
hunters. They were generations of European trappers who lived on the frontier and had Indian wives and mixed-race children. (In Canada descendants of such families have achieved recognition as the Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
ethnic group). They had come to the area for bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
hunting, as the herds were still vast on the prairies. Stanley painted and sketched many Northwest landmarks, which were reproduced in lithographs for inclusion in Stevens' last volume of the Pacific Railroad Reports. These gained wide circulation and added to Stanley's reputation. His portraits of two early Oregon settlers are held by the Oregon Historical Society. Later in the West, he painted Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
warriors in their natural environment. The party returned that year to the East, crossing the Isthmus of Panama
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...
from the west and arriving by ship in New York in January 1854.
After his return, Stanley worked intensely at painting and organizing a large panorama of western scenes from the northern survey route. His exhibition of 42 scenes went on display in Washington, DC on September 1, 1854, accompanied by a 23-page booklet of descriptions. Visitors said they needed two hours to see everything in the panorama. This exhibit represented the last of Stanley's great western adventures and was highly praised by Washington papers. It was shown in Baltimore for three weeks, and went on to New York and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The panorama later disappeared and historians have not been able to trace it.
Stanley finally returned to Detroit in 1864, where he set up his art studio. He essentially remained in Detroit the rest of his life, helping to found a forerunner of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
and its School of Arts. He also helped incorporate the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, DC; originally he had hoped his Indian gallery would be the basis of its collection.
Marriage and family
Stanley married Alice C. English in 1854, when he was 40 and essentially finished with his western travels. They had five children together, two of whom died as infants. Their son L. C. Stanley, published a biographical account of his father, entitled "John Mix Stanley, Artist-Explorer," in the 1924 Annual Report Smithsonian Institution, edited by David I. Bushnell, Jr.Paintings of Native Americans
Stanley's primary interest and sympathies were with the American Indians. The Smithsonian had a large and successful exhibit of his paintings in 1852, but Congress never appropriated monies for them. More than 200 of his works, as well as many of his maps and other documentation, were destroyed in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. This loss likely contributed to the decline in his reputation and lack of knowledge about him in later American art history.His surviving works are held by national museums as well as numerous regional institutions:
National:
- Corcoran Gallery of ArtCorcoran Gallery of ArtThe Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
(Washington, D. C.), - Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
(New York City), - National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, (Washington, D. C.), - National Portrait GalleryNational Portrait Gallery (United States)The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
(Washington, D. C.), and - Smithsonian American Art MuseumSmithsonian American Art MuseumThe Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
(Washington, D. C.)
Regional:
- Amon Carter MuseumAmon Carter MuseumThe Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...
(Fort Worth, Texas), - Arizona State University Art Museum (Tempe, Arizona),
- Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (Buffalo, NY),
- Buffalo Bill Historical CenterBuffalo Bill Historical CenterThe Buffalo Bill Historical Center is a complex of museums displaying artifacts and art of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. Founded in 1917, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center is the oldest museum in the West...
(Cody, Wyoming), - Denver Art MuseumDenver Art MuseumThe Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
, - Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of ArtsThe Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
, - Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western ArtEiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western ArtThe Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, and houses an extensive collection of Native American art, as well as Western American paintings and sculptures collected by buinessman and philanthropist Harrison Eiteljorg...
(Indianapolis, Indiana), - Gilcrease MuseumGilcrease MuseumGilcrease Museum is a museum located northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum now houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America...
(Tulsa, Oklahoma), - Honolulu Academy of ArtsHonolulu Academy of ArtsThe Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...
, - Joslyn Art MuseumJoslyn Art MuseumThe Joslyn Art Museum is the principal fine arts museum in the state of Nebraska, United States of America. Located in Omaha, it is the only museum in the state with a comprehensive permanent collection...
(Omaha, Nebraska), - National Museum of Wildlife ArtNational Museum of Wildlife ArtThe National Museum of Wildlife Art, located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is a museum dedicated to presenting art about wildlife. Located on a bluff called East Gros Ventre Butte and amid real wildlife habitat, the sandstone structure overlooks the National Elk Refuge...
(Jackson Hole, Wyoming), - Phoenix Art MuseumPhoenix art museumThe Phoenix Art Museum is the Southwest United States' largest art museum for visual art. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, the museum is . It displays international exhibitions alongside its comprehensive collection of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western...
(Phoenix, Arizona), - Rockwell Museum of Western Art (Corning, New York),
- Stark Museum of ArtStark Museum of ArtThe Stark Museum of Art, in Orange, Texas, houses one of the nation’s most significant collections of American Western art. The Western Art collection conveys the artistic interpretation of the western region over two centuries....
(Orange, Texas), - University of Arizona Museum of Art (Tucson, Arizona),
- Westervelt Warner Museum of American ArtWestervelt Warner Museum of American ArtThe Westervelt Warner is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. The Westervelt collection is the result of 40 years of collecting American art by Jack Warner. He founded the museum in 2003 after exhibiting portions of the collection elsewhere...
(Tuscaloosa, Alabama), - William L. Clements Library (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan),
- Worcester Art MuseumWorcester Art MuseumThe Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 35,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day, representing cultures from all over the world. The WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is the second largest art museum in New England...
(Worcester, Maine), and - Yale University Art GalleryYale University Art GalleryThe Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
(New Haven, Connecticut).
Indian atlas
Stanley intended to produce an atlas of the American Indian but, after the loss of most of his paintings in 1865, never completed it. Only eight leaves exist. Probably written in the winter of 1868–1869, these include his preface, as well as pages describing three plates: a Plains Indian encampment, Chinook burial ground, and a buffaloAmerican Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
hunt. Stanley described what the plates represent and also provided historical and cultural information about each tribe or area.
Maps
As an artist-explorer, Stanley had traveled extensively, especially in the American West. He created a large collection of maps, which was held by the Smithsonian Institution. They were also destroyed in the 1865 fire.Works
- Stanley, John Mix and Sumner Dickerman (1846), Catalogue: North American Indian Portrait Gallery; J. M. Stanley, Artist (Cincinnati)
- Stanley, John Mix (1852), Preface and Catalogue: Portraits of North American Indians, with Sketches of Scenery, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
- Stanley (1870), “Atlas of American Indians: Proof Sheets”, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Kroch Library Rare & Manuscripts, Archives.
See also
- Elbridge Ayer BurbankElbridge Ayer BurbankElbridge Ayer Burbank was an American artist who sketched and painted more than 1200 portraits of Native Americans from 125 tribes. He studied art in Chicago and in his 30s traveled to Munich, Germany for additional studies with notable German artists...
- George CatlinGeorge CatlinGeorge Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...
- Seth and Mary EastmanSeth and Mary EastmanSeth Eastman and his second wife Mary Henderson Eastman were instrumental in recording Native American life. Eastman was an artist and West Point graduate who served in the US Army, first as a mapmaker and illustrator. He had two tours at Fort Snelling, Minnesota Territory; during the second,...
- Paul KanePaul KanePaul Kane was an Irish-born Canadian painter, famous for his paintings of First Nations peoples in the Canadian West and other Native Americans in the Oregon Country....
- W. Langdon KihnW. Langdon KihnWilfred Langdon Kihn was a portrait painter and illustrator specializing in portraits of American Indians.He was born in Brooklyn, New York, son of Alfred Charles Kihn and Carrie Lowe Kihn...
- Charles Bird KingCharles Bird KingCharles Bird King is a United States artist who is best known for his portraiture. In particular, the artist is notable for the portraits he painted of Native American delegates coming to Washington D.C., which were commissioned by government's Bureau of Indian Affairs.-Biography:Charles Bird King...
- Joseph Henry SharpJoseph Henry SharpJoseph Henry Sharp was an American painter and a founding member of the Taos Society of Artists, of which he is considered the "Spiritual Father". Sharp was one of the earliest European-American artists to visit Taos, New Mexico, which he saw in 1893 with John Hauser when he visited in 1893...
Further reading
- Dawdy, Doris, Artists of the American West (3 vols., Athens, Ohio: Swallow, 1974–86).
- Emory, William Hemsley, Notes of a Military Reconnaissance (Washington and New York, 1848; rpt., by the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers; as Lieutenant Emory Reports, with intro. and notes by Ross Calvin [Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1951]).
- Hoig, Stan, Jesse Chisholm: Ambassador of the Plains, Niwot, Colorado: University of Colorado Press, 1991.
- Hunt, David C. "John Mix Stanley: Survey Artist and Indian Painter," American Scene 12 (1971).
- Nicandri, David L. "Isaac I. Stevens and the Expeditionary Artists of the Northern West," in Encounter with a Distant Land: Exploration and the Great Northwest, edited by Carlos Schwantes. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1994.
- Nicandri, David L. "John Mix Stanley: Paintings and Sketches of the Oregon Country and Its Inhabitants", Oregon Historical Quarterly 88 (Summer, 1987).
- Taft, Robert. Artists and Illustrators of the Old West: 1850-1900, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953.
External links
- Alice Stanley Acheson letter, 1944 March 2 from the Smithsonian's Archives of American ArtArchives of American ArtThe Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 16 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washington, D.C...
that discusses Stanley's work from his granddaughter. - The Handbook of Texas Online