Painter: Karl Bodmer, 1809-1893
Europeans have always been fascinated with the American west and with the Native peoples of the Plains. Almost as soon as Lewis and Clark returned from their journey and published their notes and journals, seriously wealthy Europeans flocked to America, found guides and journeyed into the unknown, much like African safaris during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. One such adventurer was German princeling Maximilian of Wied-Neuweid. He toured the west in grand style, evening bringing an artist to chronicle it for him, Karl Bodmer.
Karl Bodmer, 1809-1893, was born in Zurich, of Swiss-German parentage. He early on showed an aptitude for art and became a painter, etcher, lithographer and engraver. He traveled to the city of Koblenz in Germany and attracted the attention of Maximilian, who soon took Bodmer into his patronage. Maximilian had journeyed to Brazil in 1815-1817, and was planning an adventure to America. In his day, the Prince was a well-known naturalist. In 1832, Karl Bodmer left with Maximilian to America. Max was delighted with Bodmer, who was lively, diligent and made few demands. Maximilian himself was known to be a character and tried the patience of his principal guide, Jean-Baptiste (Pompey) Charbonneau, the son of Sacajawea. Max and Bodmer arrived in America and after delays, mostly caused by a cholera epidemic that wreaked havoc on many Native tribes, they set out from St. Louis, Missouri in 1833.
They would cover over 2500 miles of American wilderness, traveling as far as present-day Fort Benton, Montana. Maximilian took notes for a book he intended to write, and Bodmer painted as many Native people as he or Charbonneau could get to pose for him, or allow him to witness their lives, pastimes, hunts and even ceremonies. Upon returning to Europe, Bodmer kept many of his paintings, which he reproduced as aquatints, fueling European hunger for all things American west. These sold quickly and proved to be quite profitable. He later moved to Barbizon, France and became a leader of the Barbizon School of painters. many of his paintings, drawing and prints later found their way into the Joslyn Art Museum of Omaha, Nebraska.
Karl Bodmer, 1809-1893, was born in Zurich, of Swiss-German parentage. He early on showed an aptitude for art and became a painter, etcher, lithographer and engraver. He traveled to the city of Koblenz in Germany and attracted the attention of Maximilian, who soon took Bodmer into his patronage. Maximilian had journeyed to Brazil in 1815-1817, and was planning an adventure to America. In his day, the Prince was a well-known naturalist. In 1832, Karl Bodmer left with Maximilian to America. Max was delighted with Bodmer, who was lively, diligent and made few demands. Maximilian himself was known to be a character and tried the patience of his principal guide, Jean-Baptiste (Pompey) Charbonneau, the son of Sacajawea. Max and Bodmer arrived in America and after delays, mostly caused by a cholera epidemic that wreaked havoc on many Native tribes, they set out from St. Louis, Missouri in 1833.
They would cover over 2500 miles of American wilderness, traveling as far as present-day Fort Benton, Montana. Maximilian took notes for a book he intended to write, and Bodmer painted as many Native people as he or Charbonneau could get to pose for him, or allow him to witness their lives, pastimes, hunts and even ceremonies. Upon returning to Europe, Bodmer kept many of his paintings, which he reproduced as aquatints, fueling European hunger for all things American west. These sold quickly and proved to be quite profitable. He later moved to Barbizon, France and became a leader of the Barbizon School of painters. many of his paintings, drawing and prints later found their way into the Joslyn Art Museum of Omaha, Nebraska.
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