As one of the first European artists to explore the trans-Mississippi River frontier, Swiss-born painter and printmaker Karl Bodmer produced a vital early record of Indigenous life and the landscape of North America. In 1832, Bodmer accompanied German Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied on his Missouri River Expedition, traveling from Saint Louis through the tribal lands of the Omaha, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Blackfoot. Bodmer’s portraits of the Native American peoples he encountered are noteworthy for their sensitivity of depiction, precise observation, and subtle, refined brushwork. The expedition resulted in a two-volume publication that featured more than fifty hand-colored engravings based on Bodmer’s original watercolors.
Source: The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, the Rockwell Museum
