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Portfolios%3D%22355%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Catlin,%20George%22
Painting
Shooting Flamingoes
George Catlin, 1796 - 1872
Catlin, George
United States
1796 - 1872
Male
19 x 26 1/2 in. (48.3 x 67.3 cm)
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overall
frame
Oil
Oil
1857
1857
1857
1800-1900, 19th century, birds, paintings
Painting
Shooting Flamingoes is a shocking and confusing painting to 21st century sensibilities. To our eyes, the mass killing of the flamingoes is unthinkable, sensitive as we are to the role hunting has played in the extinction of many species over the past century and a half. To our eyes, the startled native guide is an offensive stereotype, a comic, cartoon-like character next to the upright, composed figure of the hunter.
In pre-Civil War America, George Catlin, a well-known artist of the period, was commissioned to create a nine-part series to glorify the Colt rifle. Shooting Flamingoes was one image in that advertising campaign. While the original intent of this painting doesn’t invalidate our contemporary reactions, it does set the piece within a historical context that explains its initial point-of-view.
[Gallery label text, 2004]
lower rightback of stretcher, visible before relining, but no longer extant
1941.25
item
Memorial Art Gallery
9/8/1999
41.25TR1
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6/23/2000
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