Lesueur, the Naturalist at New Harmony

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Lesueur, the Naturalist at New Harmony

Date

Fall 1832

Dimensions

6 7/8 × 10 1/8 in. (17.5 × 25.7 cm)

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.369

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Maximilian described New Harmony, Indiana, in the fall of 1832 as "a relatively advanced cultural community" of approximately 600 inhabitants. He noted various commercial occupations, summing up the character of the place by stating that "the rest of the inhabitants are composed mostly of farmers, landowners, and owners of plantations." Bodmer's portrait of artist-naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur, one of the colony's more celebrated residents, may have been intended for reproduction in the atlas accompanying the publication of Maximilian's journal. An engraving from this study exists, but does not appear in the published series of aquatints.

References in Journal

October 21, 1832

Labels:

portrait , New Harmony, Indiana

Approximate Depicted Location:

New Harmony, Indiana