Karl Bodmer - Pehriska-Ruhpa: Moennitarri Warrior in the Costume of the Dog Dance - Print AP1737

A 1930s museum limited-edition tinted litho print of the iconic 1841 print and painting. One of the most widely reproduced (and most beautiful) images of a Native American ever made. Measures 11 1/2" x 16 1/2". Swiss-born Karl Bodmer (1809–1893) was one of the first and most accomplished European artists to document the landscape of the North American interior and its Indigenous peoples. He was hired by the German explorer and naturalist Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, to accompany an expedition to the northwestern reaches of the Missouri River in 1833–34. Together they traveled from Saint Louis through the tribal lands of the Omaha, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Blackfoot, among many Plains nations where Bodmer executed watercolor portraits in situ. A meticulous draftsman, he produced portraits that are notable for their sensitivity of depiction and subtle, refined brushwork. Bodmer’s precise observation of his sitters—in facial likeness, body decoration, and regalia—conveys eyewitness testimony to the lives of specific individuals and the complexity of cultural encounters.