Pocahontas Warning Capt. John Smith (Primary Title)
Alfred Jacob Miller, 1810-1874 American (Artist)
Although Alfred Jacob Miller is primarily associated with imagery of the American frontier, the artist traveled west of the Mississippi River only once in his lifetime. A six-month expedition resulted in dozens of sketches of the landscapes and people he encountered there, which provided him with source material for the next thirty years of his career. This painting imagines a pivotal scene in the myth of Pocahontas, when the young Powhatan princess informs the English explorer of her father’s intention to attack Smith’s camp. Miller outfits Pocahontas in a combination of clothing styles indicative of his familiarity with Native American materials and dress, but the results evoke only a sense of “Indianness.”
in graphite at lower margin: "Pocahontas warning Capt. / Smith"
James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection
Reynolds/Johnston: 888-102.
"American Art from the McGlothlin Collection" Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1 May - 18 July 2010).
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