The Concealed Enemy
Artist
George Caleb Bingham
(American, 1811 - 1879)
Date1845
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions29 1/4 x 36 1/2 inches (74.3 x 92.7 cm)
Frame: 37 7/8 x 45 1/4 x 5 1/8 inches (96.2 x 114.9 x 13 cm)
Frame: 37 7/8 x 45 1/4 x 5 1/8 inches (96.2 x 114.9 x 13 cm)
Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1985
Object number31.221.1
ClassificationsPaintings
DescriptionOsage warrior on bluff overlooking Missouri River.Label TextBingham's image reveals to the viewer an Indian warrior who uses the landscape to hide. His position sets up a potential attack on an unseen victim. The painting, through its depiction of a fierce warrior in a wild natural setting, conveys an idea common in the nineteenth century-that Indians were "savage." That concept affected governmental policies and social practices.
ProvenanceSubmitted by Bingham in 1845 in American Art Union, New York; purchased by the American Art Union December 8, 1845; Awarded to James A. Hutchison, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1845; David Ives Bushnell, Jr. Washington, D.C. until 1946; gifted 1949 to Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard, University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; purchased through (Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, New York) February 1, 1985, by the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
On View
On viewCollections
John George Brown
