Lot 221

Dakota Warrior and Dakota Woman with Child, Karl Bodmer, 1836–1843 Engraved in Paris between 1836 and 1843 - Each Sheet: 15 x 11 inches.

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Dakota Warrior and Dakota Woman with Child, Karl Bodmer, 1836–1843 Engraved in Paris between 1836 and 1843 - Each Sheet: 15 x 11 inches.

Estimate: $200 - $300

by Sloans & Kenyon
June 4, 2026 11:00 AM EDT (In Progress)
Live Auction
5550 Friendship Boulevard
T60
Chevy Chase, MD, US 20815

Dakota Warrior and Dakota Woman with Child, Karl Bodmer, 1836–1843

Unframed two lithographic plates, numbered 43 and 44, are among the most compelling portraits from Karl Bodmer's monumental atlas accompanying Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied's "Travels in the Interior of North America," engraved in Paris between 1836 and 1843. The left plate, captioned "Dacota-Krieger / Guerrier Dacota" (Dakota Warrior), presents a full-length, full-figure portrait of a Dakota man standing with quiet authority, dressed in an elaborately fringed and fur-trimmed robe, decorated leggings and moccasins, a beaded breastplate, and a feathered headdress, holding a tomahawk at his side. The right plate, "Dacota Indianerin / Indienne Dacota" (Dakota Woman), depicts a Dakota woman and child standing on an open prairie under a clouded sky, the woman wrapped in a patterned blanket and wearing beaded moccasins and leggings, the child at her side dressed in traditional garments. Unframed.

  • Provenance: ARTIST PROFILE: Karl Bodmer was born on February 11, 1809, in Riesbach, near Zurich, Switzerland, and would go on to become one of the most accomplished and versatile artist-naturalists of the nineteenth century, working as a printmaker, etcher, lithographer, zinc engraver, draughtsman, painter, and illustrator. He received his early artistic training in Europe before being recruited in 1832 by the German explorer and naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to accompany him on an ambitious scientific expedition into the interior of North America. Over the course of two years, Bodmer traveled deep into the American frontier along the Missouri River, producing hundreds of meticulous watercolors and sketches documenting the landscapes, flora, fauna, and — most significantly — the peoples of the Great Plains and Upper Missouri, including the Mandan, Hidatsa, Blackfoot, Sioux, and many other nations. His images, later engraved and published in the monumental atlas accompanying Maximilian's *Travels in the Interior of North America* (1839–1841), are celebrated to this day as among the most scientifically precise and artistically refined visual records of Native American life ever created, made just before the catastrophic disruptions of westward expansion. After returning to Europe, Bodmer settled in the artists' colony of Barbizon, France, where he spent the remainder of his long career painting landscapes and woodland scenes in the Barbizon tradition, until his death on October 30, 1893.
  • Dimensions: Each Sheet: 15 x 11 inches

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$200 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
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