!Karl Bodmer, Swiss 1809-1893

Aquatints

Second only to the journey of Lewis and Clark, the 5,000 mile expedition up the Missouri River in 1833-34 by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867) provided a pictorial and written account of the vast interior of the future United States that fascinated scholars then and today. Maximilian was a naturalist-explorer, confident in his ability and with the money to back his venture. Following the successful publication of a book on his travels in Brazil, he came to North America to explore the interior plains. Into his company he contracted the young Swiss illustrator, Karl Bodmer (1809-93) and David Driedoppel, the hunts-man and taxidermist from his Brazilian trip.

Having arrived in Boston on July 4, 1832 from Rotterdam, the company experienced many delays in going west, but finally began the Missouri trip on April 10, 1833, leaving St. Louis on the American Fur Company steamer “Yellowstone”. Bodmer fulfilled his contract with the Prince by creating a great series of watercolors of the landscapes they passed through and of the native people they met. Upon their return to Europe in 1834, Bodmer spent the next four years in Paris supervising the completion of a series of copper plate aquatints to illustrate the publication of the Prince’s 300,000 word text, "Travels in the Interior of North America in the Years 1832-34". Bodmer’s watercolors were reduced to 81 aquatints of which 33 were smaller sized vignettes. The text was issued in German, French and English with the prints being lettered in all three languages. The German and French editions were issued first, with the prints coming in a series as printed and therefore were issued unbound. The English edition was issued as a bound group. Not all the copies of each print went through the hand coloring process. The background of each of the three prints represented here are given in the description accompanying each print.

Bodmer’s treasure trove of drawings and watercolors were by contract the property of Maximilian, in whose estate they languished forgotten and undisturbed until scholars unearthed them the 1950s. They now reside as a collection in the Joslyn Art Museum. (Omaha NE). Bodmer would sign some of his works as “Carl”, but “Karl” was his preferred use. He stayed in France after completion of the prints, married and became a citizen. Moving to Barbizon in 1847, he painted, entered the Salon successfully and won medals. However, the work for Maximilian would be his remembered legacy.

The Joslyn has published an excellent book reproducing Bodmen’s watercolors and prints and providing background for the work and the expedition. Karl Bodmer’s North American Prints, 2004.