Wáh-Menítu, Lakota Sioux Man

View Larger Image

Download

jpeg(113.48 kb)

For information on accessing a high resolution version of this image suitable for print reproduction please visit the Rights and Reproduction page.

Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Wáh-Menítu, Lakota Sioux Man

Date

June 4, 1833

Dimensions

11 × 8 3/4 in. (27.9 × 22.2 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.247

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Wáh-Menítu ("Spirit or God in the Water"), a cheerful, talkative man with a voracious appetite, was sketched at Fort Pierre in June, 1833. Bodmer gave Wáh-Menítu vermillion so that he might freshly paint his face in preparation for the portrait. The Lakota first rubbed the vermillion generally over his features and then added broad and narrow stripes with the aid of a mirror and a small stick. A Sioux warrior who had touched a slain enemy in battle while under fire had the right to wear a feather horizontally in his hair as a symbol of the exploit. Wáh-Menítu was wearing one such feather that day at Fort Pierre. However, he had the acknowledged right to wear three and Bodmer, using artistic license, added two more to this portrait and to the woodcut later based on it.

References in Journal

June 4, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort Pierre, South Dakota