Carl Wimar (1828-1862),
Landscape Sketch of the Upper Missouri River, ca. 1858-59,
charcoal and white chalk on paper
Collection of the St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri - St. Louis
Carl Wimar was born in Germany and came to the United States with his family when he was fifteen years old. They settled in St. Louis, where Wimar studied with Leon Pomarede, a French landscape painter currently living in the city. Wimar eventually studied in Germany but returned to St. Louis in 1856 and continued his role as a leader in the city’s art world. He was among the directors of the Western Academy of Art, organized in St. Louis in 1860 to provide quality art education to artists in the region and to support the growth of culture in the city, and he loaned five paintings to the organization’s inaugural exhibition. Another fourteen paintings by Wimar were loaned to the exhibition by St. Louis patrons, most of whom owned two or more works by this popular artist.

He frequently traveled on riverboats run by the American Fur Company to sketch the landscape and peoples along the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. In the standard artistic practice of his day, Wimar would take these sketches back to his studio to develop them into finished paintings. The sketch of the Upper Missouri River reveals Wimar’s ability to capture the sweeping grandeur of the river valley with a few quick strokes of charcoal and white chalk.
Expand Your Horizons Click here to learn more about the role of the sketch in the artist's process.