John Lewis Krimmel
Encyclopedia
John Lewis Krimmel sometimes called "the American Hogarth" was America's
first painter of genre scenes. Born in Germany
, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1809 and soon became a member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Initially influenced by Scotland's David Wilkie
, England's William Hogarth
and America's Benjamin West
, he soon turned to direct observation of life for his genre scenes. He was among the first artists in America to portray free blacks, such as in Black People's Prayer Meeting (1813). Among his still frequently reproduced paintings are Fourth of July, Center Square (1811/12) and Election Day (1815), both filled with lively characterizations of scores of crowd members. Krimmel died in a swimming accident at the age of 35. Among the prominent American artists influenced by Krimmel's work are William Sidney Mount
, George Caleb Bingham
, and Thomas Eakins
.
in the south German duchy of Württemberg
. In 1809, Johann Ludwig decided to join his older brother, who had immigrated to Philadelphia. Initially he planned to engage in business with his brother, but soon abandoned this occupation for art. Though he may have had some watercolor lessons in London
, Johann Ludwig had no real formal training in art when he reached Philadelphia about November 1, 1809. The 1812 city directory listed Krimmel (who by now had changed his name to John Lewis) as a painter. He began by painting portraits, but, a copy of David Wilkie
's Blind Fiddler falling in his way, his attention was turned to humorous subjects. He also painted historical pictures.
At that time Philadelphia was the intellectual and cultural center of the United States. Here Krimmel soon joined the first known sketch club in America whose members included Thomas Sully
and Rembrandt Peale
.
His first painting to excite public notice was Pepper-Pot: a Scene in the Philadelphia Market, 1811. The oil depicted a black woman ladling out bowls of her uniquely Philadelphian spicy soup to white customers of various ages, heights and social classes. This genre scene or depiction of contemporary everyday life was soon followed by many more in his sketchbooks and canvases like Blind Man's Buff (1814) and Country Wedding (1814). In all of his known oils, Krimmel included at least one animal (usually a frisky dog) sometimes two or three.
Pavel Svinin, a Russian on a diplomatic mission to Philadelphia between 1811 and 1813, apparently bought roughly 14 sketches from Krimmel and presented them back in Russia
along with works from a variety of sources as typical American scenes which he had painted. The pictures in the so-called Svinin Portfolio include Black People's Prayer Meeting, Deck Life on One of Fulton's Steamboats and Morning in Front of Arch Street Meeting House, which showed Quakers in their Sunday best. The Svinin Portfolio is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. Though formerly thought to be Svinin's own work, the watercolors are now generally attributed to Krimmel.
to praise In an American Inn as the first work of an American artist to illustrate this issue.
and Salzburg
, and his sketchbooks are filled with sketches of European landscapes, people, animals, and flowers. His encounters with local artists influenced his style to become more maturely romantic.
Some of Krimmel's now lost paintings are known from detailed sketches, such as
The Tea Party. Seven of Krimmel's sketchbooks are now in the library at the Winterthur Museum. They contain approximately 700 separate drawings, ranging from quick pencil sketches to finished watercolor pictures, which have been useful in authenticating unsigned paintings of Krimmel that surface from time to time.
Two sketches in his second sketchbook capture a typical Moravian Christmas home celebration and represent what are probably the earliest depictions of a Christmas tree
in American art.
in a millpond and drowned. He was engaged to be married at the time of his death. Though Krimmel had been a painter only 11 years, his star was definitely on the rise. He had recently been elected President of Association of American Artists. He had also received a prestigious commission for a large historical work, a 6 foot by 9 foot canvas commemorating the landing of William Penn
at Newcastle, Delaware in October 1682.
Though Krimmel's genre scenes found few buyers during his lifetime, engravings of his work made long after his death were widely circulated as prints and magazine illustrations.
He is recognized as the most significant American painter to consistently chronicle American life from 1810 to 1821.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
first painter of genre scenes. Born in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1809 and soon became a member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Initially influenced by Scotland's David Wilkie
David Wilkie (artist)
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter.- Early life :Wilkie was the son of the parish minister of Cults in Fife. He developed a love for art at an early age. In 1799, after he had attended school at Pitlessie, Kettle and Cupar, his father reluctantly agreed to his becoming a painter...
, England's William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
and America's Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
, he soon turned to direct observation of life for his genre scenes. He was among the first artists in America to portray free blacks, such as in Black People's Prayer Meeting (1813). Among his still frequently reproduced paintings are Fourth of July, Center Square (1811/12) and Election Day (1815), both filled with lively characterizations of scores of crowd members. Krimmel died in a swimming accident at the age of 35. Among the prominent American artists influenced by Krimmel's work are William Sidney Mount
William Sidney Mount
William Sidney Mount was an American genre painter and contemporary of the Hudson River School.-Biography:...
, George Caleb Bingham
George Caleb Bingham
George Caleb Bingham was an American artist whose paintings of American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River exemplify the Luminist style. Left to languish in obscurity, Bingham's work was rediscovered in the 1930s...
, and Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins was an American realist painter, photographer, sculptor, and fine arts educator...
.
Early work
Johann Ludwig Krimmel was born on May 30, 1786 in the small town of EbingenEbingen
Ebingen is a town in the large district of Albstadt, district Zollernalbkreis, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, south of Tübingen and west of Ulm.- History :...
in the south German duchy of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
. In 1809, Johann Ludwig decided to join his older brother, who had immigrated to Philadelphia. Initially he planned to engage in business with his brother, but soon abandoned this occupation for art. Though he may have had some watercolor lessons in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Johann Ludwig had no real formal training in art when he reached Philadelphia about November 1, 1809. The 1812 city directory listed Krimmel (who by now had changed his name to John Lewis) as a painter. He began by painting portraits, but, a copy of David Wilkie
David Wilkie (artist)
Sir David Wilkie was a Scottish painter.- Early life :Wilkie was the son of the parish minister of Cults in Fife. He developed a love for art at an early age. In 1799, after he had attended school at Pitlessie, Kettle and Cupar, his father reluctantly agreed to his becoming a painter...
's Blind Fiddler falling in his way, his attention was turned to humorous subjects. He also painted historical pictures.
At that time Philadelphia was the intellectual and cultural center of the United States. Here Krimmel soon joined the first known sketch club in America whose members included Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully was an American painter, mostly of portraits.-Early life:Sully was born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England, to the actors Matthew and Sarah Sully. In March 1792 the Sullys and their nine children immigrated to Richmond, Virginia, where Thomas’s uncle managed a theater...
and Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
.
His first painting to excite public notice was Pepper-Pot: a Scene in the Philadelphia Market, 1811. The oil depicted a black woman ladling out bowls of her uniquely Philadelphian spicy soup to white customers of various ages, heights and social classes. This genre scene or depiction of contemporary everyday life was soon followed by many more in his sketchbooks and canvases like Blind Man's Buff (1814) and Country Wedding (1814). In all of his known oils, Krimmel included at least one animal (usually a frisky dog) sometimes two or three.
Pavel Svinin, a Russian on a diplomatic mission to Philadelphia between 1811 and 1813, apparently bought roughly 14 sketches from Krimmel and presented them back in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
along with works from a variety of sources as typical American scenes which he had painted. The pictures in the so-called Svinin Portfolio include Black People's Prayer Meeting, Deck Life on One of Fulton's Steamboats and Morning in Front of Arch Street Meeting House, which showed Quakers in their Sunday best. The Svinin Portfolio is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York. Though formerly thought to be Svinin's own work, the watercolors are now generally attributed to Krimmel.
Best known pictures
Krimmel’s works are still often reproduced in schoolbooks, historical works and magazines. Election Day 1815, perhaps his most famous painting, best illustrates Krimmel's ability to individualize crowd members with humorous observations. Fourth of July Celebration in Centre Square, Philadelphia, 1819 brims with patriotism and a spirit of unity in a neoclassical design. In Quilting Frolic guests and their black fiddler burst in to celebrate the finishing of a quilt before the needlework and clean-up of the room are quite finished. Art historian Guy McElroy has identified this work as one of the first "to utilize physiognomical distortions [wide toothy grins and over-sized lips] as a basic element in the depiction of African Americans..." The depiction of a mother and daughter trying to persuade the drunken father to come home has caused historians of the temperance movementTemperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
to praise In an American Inn as the first work of an American artist to illustrate this issue.
Krimmel's sketchbooks
Krimmel recorded ideas for his pictures in a series of sketchbooks he kept between 1810 to 1821. From late 1816 to 1818, he travelled back to his home region as well as to ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, and his sketchbooks are filled with sketches of European landscapes, people, animals, and flowers. His encounters with local artists influenced his style to become more maturely romantic.
Some of Krimmel's now lost paintings are known from detailed sketches, such as
The Tea Party. Seven of Krimmel's sketchbooks are now in the library at the Winterthur Museum. They contain approximately 700 separate drawings, ranging from quick pencil sketches to finished watercolor pictures, which have been useful in authenticating unsigned paintings of Krimmel that surface from time to time.
Two sketches in his second sketchbook capture a typical Moravian Christmas home celebration and represent what are probably the earliest depictions of a Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
in American art.
Death and legacy
On July 15, 1821, Krimmel went swimming near Germantown, PennsylvaniaGermantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Germantown is a neighborhood in the northwest section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, about 7–8 miles northwest from the center of the city...
in a millpond and drowned. He was engaged to be married at the time of his death. Though Krimmel had been a painter only 11 years, his star was definitely on the rise. He had recently been elected President of Association of American Artists. He had also received a prestigious commission for a large historical work, a 6 foot by 9 foot canvas commemorating the landing of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
at Newcastle, Delaware in October 1682.
Though Krimmel's genre scenes found few buyers during his lifetime, engravings of his work made long after his death were widely circulated as prints and magazine illustrations.
He is recognized as the most significant American painter to consistently chronicle American life from 1810 to 1821.
Selected works
- Pepper-Pot: A Scene in the Philadelphia Market, 1811
- In an American Inn, 1814
- The Country Wedding, 1814
- Election Day, Philadelphia 1815
- Fourth of July Celebration 1819 - Philadelphia
- The Cut Finger
- Blindman's Bluff
- Going to and Returning from Boarding-School
- Perry's Victory