Existing comment:
After Karl Bodmer, Johann Hürlimann, engraver
Mató-Tópe, a Mandan Chief
1839
hand-colored aquatint
Mató-Tópe took a liking to Prince Maximilian and Bodmer. When Bodmer painted him, he chose to be depicted in full dress regalia. Mató-Tópe knew how he wished to be seen and negotiated the terms of his depiction. The similarities between the formal, full-length portraits by Bodmer and Catlin, on view to the right, suggest that the chief exerted a high degree of control, making sure his pose and his appearance conveyed his importance to the artists and within his tribe.
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Gift of the Enron Art Foundation, 1986.49.517.13 |