Karl Bodmer's America Revisited: Landscape Views Across Time

177 Pages·2013·43.38 MB·English

by  Robert Lindholm

K a r l B odm e r s A m e r ic a R e vi sited
’
Landscape Views
Across Time
Photography by
Robert M. Lindholm
Introduction and Annotations by
W. Raymond Wood and
Robert M. Lindholm
Foreword by David C. Hunt
Karl Bodmer’s America Revisited
The Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography
of the American West
B. Byron Price, General Editor
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Dark Butte, Montana
00 Lindholm/Wood BODMER front matter.indd 2 2/8/13 8:37 AM
Karl Bodmer’s America Revisited
Landscape Views Across Time
Photography by
Robert M. Lindholm
Introduction and Annotations by
W. Raymond Wood and Robert M. Lindholm
Foreword by
David C. Hunt
university of oklahoma press : norman
00 Lindholm/Wood BODMER front matter.indd 3 2/8/13 8:37 AM
All works by Karl Bodmer in this volume are from the collection of Joslyn Art Museum,
Omaha, Nebraska, Gift of the Enron Art Foundation.
Karl Bodmer’s America Revisited: Landscape Views Across Time is Volume 9
in the Charles M. Russell Center Series on Art and Photography of the American West.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lindholm, Robert M., 1935– The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Karl Bodmer’s America revisited : landscape views across time /
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞
photography by Robert M. Lindholm ; introduction and annotations
by W. Raymond Wood and Robert M. Lindholm. — First [edition].
Copyright © 2013 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
pages cm — (Charles M. Russell Center series on art and
Publishing Division of the University. Manufactured in Singapore.
photography of the American West ; v. 9)
Includes bibliographical references and index. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
ISBN 978–0–8061–3831–2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
1. Landscape photography—United States. 2. United States—
otherwise—except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the
Pictorial works. 3. Lindholm, Robert M., 1935– 4. Bodmer, Karl,
United States Copyright Act—without the prior written permission
1809–1893—Themes, motives. 5. Bodmer, Karl, 1809–1893—Travel—
of the University of Oklahoma Press. To request permission to
United States. 6. United States—In art.
reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, University
I. Wood, W. Raymond. II. Lindholm, Robert M., 1935– Works.
of Oklahoma Press, 2800 Venture Drive, Norman OK 73069, or email
Selections. 2013. III. Bodmer, Karl, 1809–1893. Works. Selections.
[email protected].
2013. IV. Title.
TR660.5.L56 2013
779'.36—dc23 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2012020083
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To
our ever-patient wives,
Joyce and Carolee
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contents
Foreword ix Economy, Pennsylvania 46–47
David C. Hunt
Portland on the Ohio River 48–49
Preface xi
W. Raymond Wood and Robert M. Lindholm Rockport on the Ohio River 50–51
Introduction 3 New Harmony on the Wabash 52–53
W. Raymond Wood and Robert M. Lindholm
New Harmony, Indiana 54–55
Albion, Illinois 56–57
Bodmer Landscapes and Lindholm Photographs 23
Annotations by Robert M. Lindholm and W. Raymond Wood Illinois Farm 58–59
Boston Lighthouse, Massachusetts 24–25 Cave-in-Rock on the Ohio 60–61
Bunker Hill Monument, Boston 26–27 Smithland on the Ohio River 62–63
Entry to the Bay of New York 28–29 Fort Massac on the Ohio River 64–65
View on the Delaware River, New Jersey 30–31 Mouth of the Ohio River 66–67
View of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 32–33 Lighthouse near Natchez, Mississippi 68–69
Bridge over Monocasa Creek at Bethlehem 34–35 Military Barracks at Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70–71
Painted Turtle 36–37 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 72–73
Delaware Water Gap 38–39 Tower Rock on the Mississippi River 74–75
Dutot’s Dwelling on the Delaware 40–41 Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, opposite St. Louis 76–77
Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania 42–43 The Steamboat Yellow Stone 78–79
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 44–45 Roubidoux’s House, St. Joseph, Missouri 80–81
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The Missouri below the Platte River 82–83 Hole-in-the-Wall, Montana 118–119
Mouth of the Platte River, Nebraska 84–85 Chapel Rock, Montana 120–121
The Missouri below Council Bluffs 86–87 Castle Rock, Montana 122–123
Ruins of Fort Atkinson, Nebraska 88–89 Citadel Rock, Montana 124–125
Mouth of the Big Sioux River, Iowa 90–91 Citadel Rock, Montana 126–127
Grand Tower on the Missouri, South Dakota 92–93 Gates of the Stone Walls, Montana 128–129
Bluffs near Cedar Island, South Dakota 94–95 Bighorn Sheep 130–131
Head of a Pronghorn 96–97 Grand Natural Wall, Montana 132–133
Bijou Hills, South Dakota 98–99 LaBarge Rock, Montana 134–135
Fort Pierre, South Dakota 100–101 White Cliffs at Eagle Creek, Montana 136–137
Fort Union, North Dakota 102–103 Gros Ventre Indian Camp, Montana 138–139
Assiniboin Bison Medicine Sign 104–105 Bearpaw Mountains, Montana 140–141
White Castles, Montana 106–107 Highwood Mountains, Montana 142–143
Chinese Wall, Montana 108–109 Fort McKenzie, Montana 144–145
Steamboat Rock, Montana 110–111 American Bison 146–147
Lone Sentinel, Montana 112–113 Mandan Village, North Dakota 148–149
Apostle Rock, Montana 114–115 Vincennes, Indiana 150–151
Seven Sisters, Montana 116–117 Niagara Falls, New York 152–153
Notes 155
References 157
Index 159
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foreword
David C. Hunt
COMMUNICATING INFORMATION AND IDEAS English-born Samuel Seymour was the first professional artist
through pictures is a characteristic feature of modern life. to venture west of the Mississippi when he joined Major Stephen
Newspapers and magazines today are profusely illustrated, Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1819. Titian
and most of us obtain our knowledge of the world and current Ramsay Peale, son of Philadelphia portraitist Charles Willson
events from such sources or from the movies and television. Peale, accompanied Long as draftsman on an exploration of
The majority of the pictures we see are photographic, and the the upper Mississippi in 1821 and was with Charles Wilkes’s
camera, or to be precise the photographer, takes people as they expedition to the Pacific in 1838–41. Meanwhile, John James
are and events as they happen. This was not always the case. Audubon explored the American wilderness in pursuit of his
Following the adoption of the printing press in the fifteenth wild bird subjects during the 1820s and ’30s. In 1843 he traveled
century, graphic artists hand-produced all of the visual material westward on the Missouri River as far as the American Fur
that was published. Even with the invention of photography in Company’s post at Fort Union, in what is now North Dakota, to
the mid-nineteenth century, this continued to be the practice obtain additional material for his monumental publications.
until the development of photomechanical techniques in George Catlin also traveled on his own throughout the
printing revolutionized the art of picture making. trans-Mississippi West from 1830 to 1836 depicting the cultural
The relationship of pictures to history or science may not life of Native populations from Texas to Canada that he later
be obvious to everyone, yet very early in the annals of American exhibited and published in Europe. In 1837 Baltimore artist
exploration, the draftsman and the cartographer made important Alfred Jacob Miller traveled overland with a wagon train to a
contributions to general knowledge. There was a demand for trappers’ rendezvous in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.
pictures of every kind in America in the nineteenth century, His paintings of the Far West appear overly romanticized to
and artists found ready employment as the country expanded modern viewers, but the experience may have seemed real
westward. The United States government sent out successive enough to him.
exploratory expeditions west of the Mississippi River that The following pictures illustrate the then-and-now aspect
included draftsmen, portraitists, and eventually photographers, of a private excursion from Boston to the Rocky Mountains
along with scientists in several fields. In their wake came privately that was undertaken in the nineteenth century by a German
sponsored expeditions in search of new worlds to explore. scientist, Prince Maximilian of Wied, and Swiss artist Karl
ix
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