Shoshone Woman

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Shoshone Woman

Date

September 6, 1833

Dimensions

12 9/16 × 9 1/2 in. (31.9 × 24.1 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.305

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

The territory of the Shoshone was west of the Rocky Mountains. There were several Shoshone women at Fort McKenzie, said to have been taken prisoner by the Blackfeet. This individual was the wife of Marcereau, a fur company employee. She gave birth on August 25 and was up and about the same day. Her portrait was painted twelve days later, and her dark color was commented on by Maximilian, who attributed it to a gradually worsening liver disease. Bodmer's often extraordinary attention to detail is evident in this sketch, where stitching is indicated along, the edge of the capelike yoke of the dress. Her picture appears in Tableau 33 of the aquatint atlas, along with that of a Cree woman (Image 1986.49.231).

References in Journal

September 6, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort McKenzie, Montana