Peace Conference

Gilbert Gaul first travelled West in 1876, leading to his fascination with the region and its inhabitants. He visited repeatedly over the years following, creating sketches and taking photographs that he would then develop into paintings in his Tennessee and New York studios. Gaul was among the artists who were commissioned by the Federal Government to illustrate the 1890 United States census, known as one of the most comprehensive documentations of Native American life compiled, though it was largely destroyed in a fire years later. During this time Gaul famously painted a portrait of the notable chief Sitting Bull before his death in 1890.