Theodore Kaufmann (December 18, 1814 – 1896) was a German-born artist who worked mostly in the United States.

Biography

Theodore Kaufmann was born in

Uelzen Uelzen (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Uelzen (), is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the district of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality. Uelz ...

, Germany. He served for several years as a mercantile apprentice and he studied painting in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

with Peter von Cornelius, in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

with

Wilhelm von Kaulbach Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a Germans, German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Bio ...

, and also in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. He took part in the revolution at Dresden in 1848, and emigrated to the United States in 1850. He settled in New York City, where he painted portraits and taught. One of his students was editorial artist

Thomas Nast Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a sharp critic of William M. Tweed, "Boss" Tweed and the T ...

. Kaufmann was not successful as a school director or painter in New York, and became an itinerant photographer and portrait painter. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Theodore Kaufmann is reported to have fought in the Union Army and to have been a correspondent-artist.

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

city directories list him as an artist in 1864 and 1865. After the Civil War, he resided in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and Washington, D.C.

Louis Prang Louis Prang (March 12, 1824June 15, 1909) was an American printer, lithographer, publisher, and Georgist. He is sometimes known as the "father of the American Christmas card". Youth Prang was born in Wrocław, Breslau in Prussian Silesia. ...

made color lithographs of some of Kaufmann's more popular pieces. Kaufmann is noted for his portraits and military and historical paintings. He died in New York City.

Works

* "Gen. Sherman near the Watchfire" * "On to Liberty" * "A Pacific Railway Train attacked by Indians" * "Slaves seeking Shelter under the Flag of the Union" * "Admiral Farragut entering Harbor through Torpedoes" * "Farragut in the Rigging" * "Westward the Star of Empire" (c. 1880) * "Die Entstehung der Gottesidee" ("The development of the idea of God"; a series of eight etchings which, along with explanatory text, are in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

)

Notes

References

Biography
at

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

- St. Louis website
Biographical data
at

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

website Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufman, Theodore 1814 births 1896 deaths People from Uelzen 19th-century American painters American male painters People of the American Civil War Immigrants to the United States Union army soldiers 19th-century American male artists