CHARLES FERDINAND WIMAR

German, American (1828-1862)

Charles (Carl) Wimar was born in Siegberg, Germany on February 20, 1828, and died in St. Louis, Missouri, November 28, 1862. At 15 years old, Wimar moved with his family from Germany to St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, the Missouri River was the center of America’s fur trading industry. The diverse people and scenery along this route inspired numerous artists, including the young Wimar. During his years in St. Louis, he became fascinated with the Western Frontier, the Native Americans, and the objects they traded. These interests, and their inherent conflicts, formed the locus of Wimar’s career.

During the 1850’s, Dusseldorf was the primary destination for American artists studying in Europe due to the influence of Emanuel Luetze and the Dusseldorf Academy. In 1851, Wimar departed America to study at the Academy. The training he received followed the European tradition of painting grand-scale historical compositions rooted in nature.

Wimar eventually grew discontent copying the works of others. Instead, he chose to study and sketch Native Americans, artifacts, and horses, developing his compositions with a systematic process. Wimar’s art shifted focus in 1856 upon his return to the Midwest. The West was no longer a dangerous and uninhabited land. It was now seen as a land of endless opportunity and expansion. In 1858-1859, Wimar made two voyages up the Missouri River to document the land that had consumed and inspired him throughout his lifetime. During the last years of his life, Wimar rejected the perpetuated portrayals of the romanticized myth of the American West, and decided to create works that objectively documented the land and its people before both became extinct.