Buffalo Bull, Grazing on the Prairie

A single buffalo stands in profile on a green prairie, its massive dark head and woolly shoulders turned slightly toward the viewer. Low green hills and a pale blue-gray sky fill the background. The composition is simple and close — the animal takes up most of the canvas, painted in dense blacks and dark browns, with careful attention to the texture of the thick front coat. Catlin painted buffalo repeatedly during his travels through the Plains in the 1830s, at a time when herds still numbered in the tens of millions. He was among the earliest advocates for what would become the national park system, arguing for the preservation of the Plains and the animals and people who lived on them.