Karl Ferdinand Wimar (also known as Charles Wimar and Carl Wimar; 20 February 1828 – 28 November 1862), was a German-American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

who concentrated on Native Americans in the West and the great herds of buffalo. Carl Wimar Abduction of Boones Daughter detail Amon Carter Museum

Carl Wimar Abduction of Boones Daughter detail Amon Carter Museum

He is known for an early painting of a colonial incident: his ''The Abduction of Boone's Daughter by the Indians'' (1855–56), a depiction of the 1776 capture near

Boonesborough, Kentucky Boonesborough is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by famed frontiersman Daniel Boone in 1778 as one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, Boonesborough lies in ...

Jemima Boone Jemima is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin (first written Jemimah, Hebrew: יְמִימָה, Yemimah) which may refer to: People * Jemima Blackburn (1823–1909), Scottish painter * Jemima Boone, daughter of Daniel Boone captured by Indians ...

and two other girls by a Cherokee-Shawnee raiding party.

Early life and education

Born in

Siegburg Siegburg (i.e. ''fort on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres from the former seat ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Wimar immigrated to the United States at the age of 15 with his family. They settled in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

, which attracted numerous German immigrants in the major 19th century emigration. In 1846 he began studying painting with Leon Pomarede. Together they traveled up the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

. In 1852 he went to the Düsseldorf Academy to study with

Emanuel Leutze Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816July 18, 1868) was a German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, Germa ...

. He is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the Ac ...

Career

Wimar returned to St. Louis in 1856. About this time, he painted a notable incident from the colonial era, ''The Abduction of Boone's Daughter by the Indians'' (1855–1856). It was one of his first works to achieve notice in the United States. A recent exhibit at the

Amon Carter Museum Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Momonym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah Given name * Amon G. Carter (1879–1955), American p ...

described the painting as showing five Indians and Jemima in a canoe, each wondering when rescuers would come for her. Wimar primarily painted the themes of Indian life on the Great Plains, showing the Native American hunts of buffalo and other activities related to their nomadic lives. He also painted scenes of the emigrant wagon trains that carried pioneer settlers across the western expanses. He made two long trips in 1858 and 1859 up the Missouri River, and was inspired by his experiences and observations of Native American life. He also traveled up the Mississippi. Among Wimar's best-known works are

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s painted in 1861 in the Rotunda of the St. Louis Court House. The building is now part of the

Gateway Arch National Park Gateway Arch National Park is an American national park located in St. Louis, Missouri, near the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial was established to commemorate: *the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent westward mo ...

Works

File:Karl Ferdinand Wimar - The Captive Charger.jpg, ''The Captive Charger'', Charles Ferdinand Wimar, 1854 File:Karl Ferdinand Wimar - The lost trail.jpg, ''The Lost Trail'', Charles Ferdinand Wimar, c. 1856. File:"Indians on the Prairie", Charles Wimar, 1860.jpg, "Indians on the Prairie", Charles Ferdinand Wimar, 1860 File:Charles Ferdinand Wimar - The Attack on an Emigrant Train - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Attack on an Emigrant Train'', at the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, Michigan with is one of the largest university art museums in the United States. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alumni Memorial Hall or ...

References

External links

carlwimar.com
"The Charles (Carl) Ferdinand Wimar Research Project"

biography "Carl Wimar"
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Biography and Works: Karl Ferdinand Wimar {{DEFAULTSORT:Wimar, Karl 1828 births 1862 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters Artists from St. Louis 19th-century German painters 19th-century American male artists German male painters Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni German emigrants to the United States People from Siegburg Painters from Missouri Düsseldorf school of painting