Edward Beyer (painter)

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Edward Beyer , actually Eduard Beyer (* around 1820 in Aachen ; † 1865 in Munich ), was a German painter and engraver of the Düsseldorf school who worked in New England and the southern states .

Life

Edward Beyer: Railway bridge over the Appomattox River (see also photo from 1865)

Beyer studied under Josef Wintergerst and Rudolf Wiegmann at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1837 and 1838 and then worked in Dresden , where he exhibited from 1846–48. In 1848 he emigrated to the United States with his wife . The couple came to Philadelphia via Newark in 1850 . Beyer painted and drew in Virginia from 1854 to 1857 .

In May 1857 Beyer traveled to Germany to have colored lithographs made from his drawings. This was done by the company Rau & Sohn in Dresden and Loeillot in Berlin, using a separate litho stone for each color. The translucent overprint of the colors black, blue and yellow resulted in further color nuances. In 1858 Beyer returned to the USA in Richmond . The edition of 40 prints printed in Germany has been bound here and given a copyright. The "Album of Victoria" appeared in 1858 together with a title page and a printed description of the 39 views.

Beyer also created panoramic views of Virginia as oil paintings, including Staunton , Buchanan, Salem , Liberty ( Bedford, Virginia ), Wytheville, Virginia and Greenbrier White Sulphor Springs , but also from other states in the USA. The extraordinarily fine details, which would not be visible to the naked eye from the distance shown, were probably determined by Beyer with the help of a telescope and sketches from a closer distance. The albums sold for $ 5 each. In 1974, the Roanoke Library purchased one of the already rare copies for $ 4,800.

After the album was released, Beyer went back to his German homeland, where he gained fame through a cyclorama with views from North America.

Characteristic of Beyer's pictures is the blending of the romanticized depiction of nature with the industrial landscape that advanced in the mid-19th century. Despite all the romanticism, the artist Beyer basically remained a realist - see, for example, his picture with slaves at work in the wheat field.

Publications

  • Album of Viriginia . 1858.
  • Edward Beyer's Cyclorama. Picturesque trip to New York and through the United States of North America, back to Hamburg. Painted from nature and illustrated by Edward Beyer. Meinhold, Dresden 1860, OCLC 25103120
  • Edward Beyer's Travels Through America. An artist's view. Including Edward Beyer's Cyclorama. Translated by Holle Schneider-Ricks with an Introduction by George A. McLean Jr. Historical Society of Western Virginia, Roanoke (VA) 2011.

Works (selection)

Painting:

"Album of Virginia or Illustration of the Old Dominion", 40 3-color lithographs and a title page, 24.25 "x 16.50" / 51.6 x 41.91 cm; Title:> ILLUSTRATED BY / ED. BEYER / 1858. <; Top center: "Virginia" on a coast, stepping with the left foot on a lying man whose crown has fallen and broken; in the distance a sailing ship; denotes> SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS <; 4 vignettes between plant ornaments: (1) (factory), (2) steam locomotive with wagons in front of the bay with ships, (3)> MOUNT VERNON <, (4)> MONTICELLO <.

  • (1) Natural Bridge (Virginia)
  • (2) Harper's Ferry from Jefferson Rock
  • (3) Rockfish Gap and the Mountain House
  • (4) The high bridge near Farmville
  • (5) The drums. The tapestry room. Weyers Cave
  • (6) Stribling Springs, Augusta County, Virginia
  • (7) Burner's White Sulfur Spr. Shenandoah Co.
  • (8) White Sulfur Spring, Montgomery, Virginia
  • (9) View from the Peak of Otter, No. 1
  • (10) View from the Peak of Otter, Virginia
  • (11) View from the Hawks Nest, West Virginia
  • (12) Little tunnel near Shawsville, Virginia & TRR
  • (13) Old Sweet Springs, West Virginia
  • (14) Rockbridge Alum Spring, Virginia
  • (15) Yellow Sulfur Springs, Virginia
  • (16) Blue Sulfur Spring, Virginia
  • (17) Falling Springs
  • (18) View from Gambles Hill
  • (19) Bullard Rock on the New River
  • (20) [4] Views of Weyer's Cave
  • (21) Salt Sulfur Spring
  • (22) Red Sulfur Spring
  • (23) Salt Pond from the Salt Pond Knob, No. 1
  • (24) Salt Pond from the Salt Pond Knob, No. 2
  • (25) Natural Bridge (from above)
  • (26) Kanawha case
  • (27) US Armory at Harpers Ferry
  • (28) Viaduct on Cheat River B & ORR
  • (29) White Sulfur Springs (2)
  • (30) Fauquier White Sulfur Springs
  • (31) Hot Springs
  • (32) Old Point Comfort. Hygeia Hotel
  • (33) View from Little Sewell Mountain, No. 1
  • (34) View from Little Sewell Mountain, No. 2
  • (35) James River Canal near the mouth of the North River
  • (36) Natuaral Bridge (from a distance)
  • (37) View of the Peaks of Otter
  • (38) Roanoke Red Sulfur Spr.
  • (39) Red Sweet Springs
  • (40) Warm Springs

literature

Web links

Commons : Edward Beyer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Museum Kunstpalast : Artists of the Düsseldorf School of Painting (selection, as of November 2016), PDF
  2. ↑ Finding aid 212.01.04 Student lists of the Art Academy Düsseldorf , website in the portal archive.nrw.de ( Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen )
  3. ^ Album of Virginia . 1858.
  4. ↑ virginiahistoryseries.org/vhs2_web_site_06272013_096.htm
  5. ↑ Chris Gladden, in: The Roanoke Times, July 12, 1987 (English)
  6. ↑ Work in the wheat field
  7. ↑ Angela D. Mack, Stephen G. Hoffius: Landscape of Slavery. The Plantation in American Art. The University of South Carolina Press 2008, ISBN 1-57003-719-1 , p. 20, Fig. 9: Edward Beyer: Bellevue, the Lewis Homestead, Salem , Virginia 1855 .
  8. ↑ Newspaper article "The Art of Edward Beyer" with illustration ( https://hisfin.pastperfectonline.com  ›archive)
personal data
SURNAME Beyer, Edward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beyer, Eduard (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter in the USA
DATE OF BIRTH around 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH 1865
Place of death Munich