Lot Essay
Born in Zurich in 1809, Karl Bodmer is probably best known in America for the superb watercolors he executed on a five thousand mile exploration up the Missouri River. In 1833, Bodmer was selected as an artist companion by the German explorer and naturalist, Prince Maximilian of Weid for his journey to and travels throughout America. On this year-long sojourn with the Plains Indians, Bodmer produced some of the earliest and most accomplished pictorial images of the Native American people and natural specimens which stand today as a record of and testament to cultures and lands now vanquished.
Karl Bodmer's fame and output does not end with this marvelous production. However, it was not until several years after this unparelleled artistic experience that Bodmer found satisfaction and renumeration from his work. In 1847 the artist moved to Cologne and then to the nearby town of Horrem whose lush woods and bountiful nature inspired him. Restricted by his poor financial situation and his continued reliance on his earlier patron Weid, Bodmer expresses in the following passage his desire for greater artistic pursuits.
"For me watercolor painting with its limited resources has long since been inadequate for that which I feel I am capable of accomplishing, especially forest and animal scenes which have to be treated on a grand scale; and it also has few admirers...I would have long since turned to oil painting, if my financial situation had not hampered me." (in Karl Bodmer's America, Omaha, Nebraska, 1984, p. 365)
In 1849 Bodmer joined Millet and other French artists in the newly discovered hamlet of Barbizon and the Forest of Fountainbleau. There the Swiss artist found a haven in which to paint woodland scenes. Over the next few years, Bodmer acquired a facility in oils and by the early 1850s his forest interiors had gained him recognition and praise in the Paris Salon. Finally the artist had achieved the financial and artistic independence which he sought for so long.
Forest with Ducks and Frogs is a wonderful example of the forest interiors which earned the artist official recognition. An intimate view of nature, although depicted on a grand scale, this work demonstrates the artist's masterful handling of intricate detail, trueness to nature, and subtle variations of color. Furthermore, it reveals his profound understanding of nature and his ability to capture an accurate and sensitive representation of it. The following words of the contemporary critic Theophile Gautier illustrate Bodmer's passion and persistant interest in the depiction of nature.
"The forest holds no mystery for him, and he has probed in it all its dark depths; he knows it like a hero of Fenimore Cooper and to his instinct he adds the soul and eye of a painter...Thus he has penetrated the intimate life of the forest and the more or less wild denizens who dwell there; he knows their pace, their habits, their loves, their retreats, the paths they frequent, and the springs where they drink. As if facing an old familiar friend, the solitude does not feel awkward before him. Karl Bodmer thus commands the forest of Europe just like the forest of America." (in Karl Bodmer's America, p. 369)
Karl Bodmer's fame and output does not end with this marvelous production. However, it was not until several years after this unparelleled artistic experience that Bodmer found satisfaction and renumeration from his work. In 1847 the artist moved to Cologne and then to the nearby town of Horrem whose lush woods and bountiful nature inspired him. Restricted by his poor financial situation and his continued reliance on his earlier patron Weid, Bodmer expresses in the following passage his desire for greater artistic pursuits.
"For me watercolor painting with its limited resources has long since been inadequate for that which I feel I am capable of accomplishing, especially forest and animal scenes which have to be treated on a grand scale; and it also has few admirers...I would have long since turned to oil painting, if my financial situation had not hampered me." (in Karl Bodmer's America, Omaha, Nebraska, 1984, p. 365)
In 1849 Bodmer joined Millet and other French artists in the newly discovered hamlet of Barbizon and the Forest of Fountainbleau. There the Swiss artist found a haven in which to paint woodland scenes. Over the next few years, Bodmer acquired a facility in oils and by the early 1850s his forest interiors had gained him recognition and praise in the Paris Salon. Finally the artist had achieved the financial and artistic independence which he sought for so long.
Forest with Ducks and Frogs is a wonderful example of the forest interiors which earned the artist official recognition. An intimate view of nature, although depicted on a grand scale, this work demonstrates the artist's masterful handling of intricate detail, trueness to nature, and subtle variations of color. Furthermore, it reveals his profound understanding of nature and his ability to capture an accurate and sensitive representation of it. The following words of the contemporary critic Theophile Gautier illustrate Bodmer's passion and persistant interest in the depiction of nature.
"The forest holds no mystery for him, and he has probed in it all its dark depths; he knows it like a hero of Fenimore Cooper and to his instinct he adds the soul and eye of a painter...Thus he has penetrated the intimate life of the forest and the more or less wild denizens who dwell there; he knows their pace, their habits, their loves, their retreats, the paths they frequent, and the springs where they drink. As if facing an old familiar friend, the solitude does not feel awkward before him. Karl Bodmer thus commands the forest of Europe just like the forest of America." (in Karl Bodmer's America, p. 369)