The Red Man's Bones: George Catlin, Artist and Showman
*Starred Review* Born in 1796, young Catlin became indelibly sensitized to the cruel realities of Native American life when the first Indian he met, an Oneida in New York State, was murdered. Giving up law school after being “seduced by art,” Catlin became certain that he was “chosen to preserve the history and customs of the Indian for posterity.” Embarking on a brashly peripatetic life, he sojourned among diverse Western Indian tribes, creating hundreds of unprecedented drawings and paintings, collecting artifacts, and writing about all that he observed, presaging the work of photographer Edward Curtis as recounted in Timothy Egan’s Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher (2012). Arts biographer Eisler details with solid facts and narrative grace just how determinedly Catlin held fast to his quest in spite of endless obstacles, financial crises, and family sorrows. “Open-hearted and straightforward,” a man of “demonic energy” and progressive ideals, Catlin reinvented himself as a showman, enthralling audiences across America and Europe with lectures, exhibitions, and a troupe of Native American performers, only to end up marooned overseas, destitute and alone. Seamlessly combining the gleanings of her extraordinarily deep research with cultural, social, and psychological insights, Eisler ignites, with verve and drama, full appreciation for Catlin’s profound effort to confront the “collective tragedy” of the Native American genocide with “an armistice of art.” --Donna Seaman