An Osage Warrior

Pavel Petrovich Svinin|Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin

1811–ca. 1813 · Watercolor, black chalk, and gum arabic on white wove paper · The American Wing

The Russian nobleman Svinin entered foreign service and traveled widely. From 1811 to 1813 he served as a member of a Russian diplomatic mission to the United States and journeyed up and down the East Coast. Along the way, he sketched and painted landscapes and scenes of everyday life. He left the States in June 1813 and published an illustrated memoir of his visit. "A Picturesque Voyage in North America" (1815) includes a chapter on his experiences in the company of American Indians—most likely fabricated, as Svinin was a notoriously unreliable memoirist. His illustrations include copies after portraits by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, who had drawn American Indians from life in 1805–7. "An Osage Warrior" is derived directly from Saint-Mémin’s portrait "Osage Warrior II" (1807; Winterthur Museum, Delaware).

Artist

Pavel Petrovich Svinin|Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin

Date

1811–ca. 1813

Medium

Watercolor, black chalk, and gum arabic on white wove paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1942