Reflection of a Journey: Engravings After Karl Bodmer
On loan from the Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas this exhibit features a collection of aquatint engravings recording the Indian people and their culture in the mid 1800s by Swiss Artist Karl Bodmer. Bodmer was born in Switzerland and studied art in Paris. In 1832 he was asked to be the artist for the German Prince Maximilian's expedition across the American West. The artist was commissioned to make detailed illustrations of the life, habits, and customs of the Indians. Bodmer is known for his careful observation and attention to detail. Unlike some other artists in the American West he tried not to romanticize his subjects but show them as they really were. In 1834 Bodmer returned to France where he finished 81 paintings to illustrate his journal of the trip. He also completed many of the plates used for the prints that he had executed from these works. The 19th century aquatint engravings by Bodmer on display in this exhibition are selected from the atlas, Travels in the Interior of North America, published in Europe between 1839 and 1843. Bodmer's aquatints constitute one of the earliest, most accurate and artistic visual records of the Indian people and their culture.
Addih-Hiddish, Hidatsa Chief, Karl Bodmer, Aquatint
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