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Seet-sé-be-a, Midday Sun, a Pretty Girl
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
George Catlin explained that his model, a young Hidatsa woman, was “a descendent from the old chief . . . a fair sample of them, and dressed in beautiful costume of the mountain-sheep skin, handsomely garnished with porcupine quills and beads.” The young girl had repeatedly refused to let Catlin paint her portrait, claiming that she was not pretty enough for such an honor. But her relatives insisted that she sit for Catlin, who described her as “more than comely.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 23, 1841; reprint 1973)
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineSeet-sé-be-a, Midday Sun, a Pretty Girl. 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.
