PRAIRIE SCENE,  INDIANA

ITEM #2568

PRICE $45.00 

SOLD

Image Size: approx. 4.50 by 6.25 inches ; Overall Size : 10.50 by 6.25 inches.

This is a genuine antique engraving published in an American literary and art journal in 1850. It is in very good condition and shows a view of a hunter looking out over a stretch of Indiana prairie, a couple of deer in the distance off to the right. Nice view of thickets of trees on a sea of grass. This is a rare view of the Indiana countryside as it looked just prior to settlement.

George Winter (1809-1876) was born in England. He frequented London's museums and
galleries as a young man but apparently received no formal training in art. In 1830 Winter
emigrated to New York where he studied for a short time at the National Academy of Design.
In 1837, he arrived by a stagecoach in the frontier town of Logansport, Indiana, coming, as he
said, "...to the Wabash for the purpose...of seeing and learning something of the Indians and
exercising the pencil in the direction."

During his lifetime, Winter documented a vanishing culture. He obtained the confidence of the
Miami and Pottawatomie Indians and had unique opportunities to sketch them as an artist, but,
like an historian, he kept accurate records and wrote prolifically about his paintings and the
subjects and circumstances of his works.

An extensive collection of the works of George Winter was donated to the Tippecanoe County
Historical Association in 1986 by Mrs. Cable G. Ball, the widow of Winter's great grandson.
This gift to the Lafayette community includes manuscripts, letters, drawings, and paintings of
this important 19th century artist.