CC0 · no rights reserved
Kay-a-gís-gis, a Young Woman
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
George Catlin described Kay-a-gís-gis as “a beautiful young woman pulling her hair out of braid.” Catlin painted this portrait at Fort Union in the upper Midwest in 1832, and it was one of his first attempts to show facial expression. The woman’s smile, somewhat forced, but engagingly shy and self-conscious, is an indication of the artist's growing perception of individual qualities among subjects whose appearance had not been critically examined before. (Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineKay-a-gís-gis, a Young Woman. 1832. George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.. CC0.
