Indian Warrior with Pipe Portrait by Karl Bodmer

Piegan Blackfeet Man (1833) by Karl Bodmer is a vintage American West fine art portrait painting. Plains warriors painted their robes with symbols of their war exploits. The figures on the elk hide suggest that he was very successful in battles and horse raids: blood flows freely from the wounds of many adversaries, and dozens of horseshoes represent animals stolen. About the artist: Karl Bodmer (1809-1893) was a Swiss painter of the American West. He accompanied German explorer Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied from 1832 through 1834 on his Missouri River expedition. Bodmer was hired as an artist with the specific intent of travelling through the American Wild West and recording images of the different tribes they saw along the way.