The Charles Bird King Indian Portraits are a collection of hand-coloured lithographs of Indigenous leaders and delegates who visited Washington from 1822 to 1842. The portraits first appear in History of the Indian Tribes of North America, a three-volume set published by James Hall and Thomas McKenny. Thirty-five of the original Seventy-three King portraits from the Lord Beaverbrook Collection are exhibited in two parts from March to October 2025, examining Indigenous representation under the disassembling narrative of "vanishing" Indigenous peoples and cultures. This problematic and paternalistic framing has reinforced colonial ideologies of disappearance throughout history.
Indigenous leaders travelled to Washington to negotiate treaties and advocate for their rights to remain on their homelands. King's portraits provide insight into the individuals depicted and the broader stories of displacement, negotiation, resistance, and forced assimilation in 19th-century America.
Curated by Emma Hassencahl-Perley and organized by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
