Theodore Burr Catlin, in Indian Costume 1840-41 oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.386,323    Catlin opened his Indian Gallery in London's Egyptian Hall in January 1840 with great success. He hung the paintings and artifacts "salon-style"-literally floor to ceiling-as was the custom. The novelty inevitably wore off, and he tried constantly to revive interest in it in London, Paris, and Brussels. Initially he lectured with mannequins in Indian costume. Then he used tableaux vivants, staged re-creations of Indian dances and rituals with white men made up to imitate Plains Indians-the first Wild West show of its kind. The tableaux became more effective later when Catlin hired traveling Indian bands-first Ojibwe, then Iowa, and finally again Ojibwe-whose likenesses he added to his Indian Gallery. French poet Charles Baudelaire praised Catlin's portrait of the Iowa Shon-ta-yi-ga, or Little Wolf, when it was shown at the Paris Salon in 1846.    Catlin's Indian Gallery was not your typical Victorian art show. The tireless artist cooked up promotions, delivered lectures, conducted tours, hosted receptions for the press, and attempted to capitalize on highly placed contacts. His early casts featured Englishmen and boys dressed in costumes from the artist's own collection, who sang, danced, and whooped their way through mock battles. Catlin's nephew Burr was always up for the artist's publicity stunts. Four Dancers 1843-44 Ojibwe/Chippewa oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.386,439    The Indian Gallery did well in London and other British cities, but inevitably its novelty wore off. To rekindle interest, Catlin added a new attraction in 1843: nine genuine Ojibwe from Canada, who danced, sang, and "scalped" enemies, to the delight of the crowd. Not everyone was charmed: Charles Dickens dismissed the group as a "party of Indians squatting and spitting...or dancing their miserable jigs after their own dreary manner."