Ball Playing among the Sioux Indians
1851
Artist, American, 1808 - 1875
Seth Eastman’s painting of Native American men playing a spirited, and somewhat violent, game that inspired modern lacrosse is based on sketches he made during his time as an army officer and mapmaker.
The artist spent seven years stationed at Fort Snelling, a military post on the upper Mississippi River. During that time, he made over 400 sketches of ceremonies, games, and daily life among the Dakota (whom Eastman would have known as the Sioux) and Ojibwe peoples camped nearby. Eastman later turned many of these drawings into oil paintings. He completed this work in a Washington, DC, studio not far from what is now the site of the National Gallery.
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 71
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 71.4 × 103.2 cm (28 1/8 × 40 5/8 in.)
framed: 90.8 × 121.9 × 11.4 cm (35 3/4 × 48 × 4 1/2 in.) -
Accession
2014.79.46
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
William Wilson Corcoran [1798-1888], Washington, by 1857;[1] gift 1869 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] See Charles Lanman, Catalogue of W. W. Corcoran's Private Gallery (Washington, 1857), no. 7.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1893
Exhibition of American Retrospective Art, World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, no. 2815.
1935
American Genre, The Social Scene, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1935, no. 34.
1936
Wisconsin Centennial Art Exhibition, University of Wisconsin, Madison, June-July 1936, no. 4, as Ball Play on the Prairies.
An Exhibition of American Genre Painting, Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, February-March 1936, no. 34.
1944
Sport in American Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1944, no. 38, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1954
Westward the Way: The Character and Development of the Louisiana Territory as seen by Artists and Writers of the Nineteenth Century, Cirty Art Museum of St. Louis; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1954-1955, no. 72, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1959
The American Muse: Parallel Trends in Literature and Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, no. 40, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, 1959, unnumbered catalogue, repro., as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1961
Seth Eastman, Marion Koogler McNay Institute, San Antonio, 1961, unpublished checklist.
1966
Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, unpublished checklist.
1968
The American Vision: Paintings 1825-1975, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York, 1968, no. 60, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1970
The American Scene: 1820-1900, Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, 1970, unnumbered catalogue, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1973
The American Frontier: Images and Myths, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1973, no. 26, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1976
Corcoran [The American Genius]. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1976, unnumbered catalogue.
1980
The Olympics in Art: An Exhibitioin of Works of Art Related to Olympic Sports, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, 1980, no. 94, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1981
Of Time and Place: American Figurative Art from the Corcoran Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Cincinnati Art Museum; San Diego Museum of Art; University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington; Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Des Moines Art Center; Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL, 1981-1983, no. 4, repro., as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
Opening the Way West: Paintings of the Early Nineteenth Century Depicting the Drama of Exploration in the American West, Katonah Gallery, New York, 1981, no. 19, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
1983
The Capital Image: Painters in Washington, 1800-1915, National Museum of American Art, Washington, 1984, unnumbered catalogue.
1987
American Frontier Life: Genre Painting in the American West, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody; Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1987-1988, unnumbered catalogue.
1991
West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920, National Museum of American Art, Washington, 1991, unnumbered catalogue.
1993
The Century Club Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1993, unpublished checklist.
2004
Figuratively Speaking: The Human Form in American Art, 1770-1950, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2004, unpublished checklist.
2005
Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 23, as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
2008
The American Evolution: A History through Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2008, unpublished checklist.
2013
American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.
Bibliography
1857
Lanman, Charles. Catalogue of W.W. Corcoran's Gallery. Washington, 1857: 7, no. 7.
1947
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Handbook of the American Paintings in the Collection of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1947: 29.
1959
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, 1959: 50, repro., as Lacrosse Playing Among the Sioux Indians.
2011
Strong, Lisa. "Seth Eastman, Ball Playing among the Sioux Indians." In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 21,104-105, 262, repro.
Inscriptions
lower right: S. Eastman / 1851
Wikidata ID
Q20188010