Otto Eerelman’s “Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show”

Eerelman, Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show, 4.15.2

Otto Eerelman (1839–1926). Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show, ca. 1887. Watercolor, 27.25 x 38.625 inches (framed). Gift of Sue and Wes Dixon. 4.15.2

This watercolor painting by artist Otto Eerelman (Dutch, 1839–1926) represents an important contribution to western American art from the perspective of a European artist. Eerelman, like George Catlin, spent time with the Mandan Indians. The painting depicts Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show performing at the Barnum & Bailey circus in London, England, in 1883.

Mounted western riders (including Buffalo Bill, John Y. Nelson, and Chief Sitting Bull) and buffalo stampede around the arena, their action lit by a “torch lamp” or search light,” recently invented in 1880.