A selection of portraits of Native Americans painted by Henry Inman. Living from 1801 to 1846, Inman was first vice president of the National Academy of Design. Studied under John Wesley Jarvis.

“*No-Tin (Wind)*.” 1832-1833. American. Oil on canvas. Collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In the public domain in the United States because the artist died over 100 years ago. via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Inman_-*No-Tin*(Wind)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

“Pes-Ke-Le-Cha-Co.” 1832-1833. American. Oil on canvas. In the public domain due to age. via https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/813594

“Hoo-Wan-Ne-Ka (Little Elk).’ 1832. American. Oil on canvas. 1832. Whitney Western Art Museum. Artwork itself in the public domain due to age. via https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/museum-minute-national-indian-gallery#stream/0

These are from a set of portraits painted by Inman in 1832 and 1833 in preparation for the production of hand-colored lithographs for Thomas L. McKenney’s “The History of the Indian Tribes of North America.” These leaders had originally been painted from life by Charles Bird King, when invited to Washington by the United States government and greeted by President James Monroe in 1822. King’s portraits were destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian Museum in 1865 but Inman’s have survived. (The above referenced information is taken from the Metropolitan Museum of Art description of the portrait of “Pes-Ke-Le-Cha-Co.” above.

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