Karl Bodmer, February 11, 1809–October 30, 1893, was a Swiss painter and printmaker. Born in Zurich, he studied drawing and painting with his uncle, Johann Jakob Meyer, a landscape painter and engraver. He later traveled and worked in the Rhine and Moselle regions.

In 1832–1834, Bodmer accompanied Prince Maximilian of Wied on an expedition to North America, producing landscapes and portraits. His drawings and watercolors supplied the basis for the aquatint illustrations of Maximilian’s published account. He settled in Paris in 1836 and moved to Barbizon in 1849, where he associated with Jean-François Millet and Théodore Rousseau.

Joslyn Art Museum holds the collection of Bodmer’s North American expedition watercolors and drawings received in 1986. Other works are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Bodmer died in Paris.

Download All Images