George Winter (artist)

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George Winter

George Winter
Born June 10, 1809
Portsea, Hampshire, England
Died February 1, 1876
Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A.
Occupation painter
Spouse Mary Jane Squier, (1820-1899)

George Winter (June 10, 1809 - February 1, 1876) was an artist noted for his portraits of Native Americans and other figures of the American frontier.

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[edit] Winter's family and life

Born in Portsea, England, Winter was a member of a cultured family and lived in an art atmosphere from early childhood. After private instruction, he entered the Royal Academy, London, where he lived and worked for four years. In 1830, when he was twenty years old, he moved to New York City, where he continued his studies at the National Academy of Design. In 1835, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. On a trip to nearby Dayton, Ohio, he met Mary Jane Squier, whom he would marry in 1840. Hearing of the plight of northern Indiana's Potawatomi Indians, who were being removed to Kansas in what would later be called the "Potawatomi Trail of Death," Winter moved to Logansport, Indiana, in 1837 to document their culture. After 13 years in Logansport, he moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where he lived until 1873, when he moved to California. In 1876 he returned to Lafayette, and soon after died a suddenly while attending a meeting of railroad stockholders at Snyder's Opera House. He was buried in Lafayette's Greenbush Cemetery.

[edit] Significance of Winter's career

Winter's artistic work on the Indiana frontier was predated by Charles Alexandre Lesueur and Karl Bodmer. In a private letter Winter speaks of six paintings of the Tippecanoe battle ground and of two of them having dimensions of 152 square feet each. Further, he describes the collection as being taken from different points of view and altogether conveying the idea of not only the battle ground but of the “surrounding romantic country.” The most noteworthy and valuable work left by Winter was a collection of paintings never sold by him. All came into the possession of Mrs. Cable Ball of Lafayette. Mrs. Ball donated them to the Tippecanoe County Historical Association in 1986.

In addition to Winter’s paintings there is a large manuscript collection comprised of Winter’s papers that has important historic value due to its intimate description of the Wabash Indians. Winter’s first-hand writings about the relocation of the Potawatomi and Miami tribes is of significant value. Winter is best known for his documentation of the life of Frances Slocum, a Quaker child who was abducted by Indians and then grew up to become the wife of an Indian chief.

Segments of the George Winter collection are now available online through a cooperative project of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association and Purdue University Libraries Archives and Special Collections.

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