Unidentified Nomad Camp

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Unidentified Nomad Camp

Date

Summer or Fall 1833

Dimensions

10 7/8 × 17 3/8 in. (27.6 × 44.1 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.216

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

An old label in German once associated with this picture incorrectly identified the scene as the Mandan women's corn ceremony at Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kusch on April 2, 1834. Although Bodmer sketched that ceremony, this drawing more likely depicts one of the many nomad camps observed near Forts Pierre, Union, or McKenzie in the summer and fall of 1833. At the top center are sketches of mounted horsemen and upright travois. To the right of these is a very faint notation that may indicate colors to be used in a later version of the scene: "a. reddish yellow; b. reddish brown; c. white." Although uncompleted, the picture is filled with interesting details such as a painted tipi, riders racing on the plain, and a small boy in the central foreground aiming his bow and arrow at a group of dogs.

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