| Gustav Kruell | |
| Birth Date: | 31 October 1843 |
| Birth Place: | Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Death Place: | San Luis Obispo, California |
| Nationality: | German |
| Known For: | Co-founder of the Society of American Wood Engravers, 1881 |
| Notable Works: | "Rent Day", "Harriet Beecher Stowe", "Abraham Lincoln" |
| Spouse: | Clara Kuhn Kruell |
Gustav Kruell (October 31, 1843 – January 2, 1907) was a German-born American wood engraver who specialized in portraits.[1] In 1881, he was a co-founder of the Society of American Wood Engravers.[1]
He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, on October 31, 1843. He studied art under Richard Brend'amour. In 1873, at the age of 30, he emigrated to the United States to work in New York City for several leading periodicals.[2]
The following year, he was joined by his wife Clara Kuhn Kruell (of Stuttgart, Germany), their two daughters and their two sons. They settled in East Orange, New Jersey.[3] There, he came under the influence of the famed engraver, William James Linton.
He died in San Luis Obispo, California, on January 2, 1907.
In 1929, Ralph Clifton Smith edited a ninety-eight page collection of Kruell's works called Gustav Kruell, American portrait engraver on wood.
Currently, the British Museum houses over 12 works by Gustav Kruell; including a self-portrait, a portrait of his own father, as well as portraits of Auguste Rodin, Wendell Phillips Garrison, James Russell Lowell and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, and scenes such as "A Fishmarket in Venice", "The Flight of Night" and "The Discoverer".
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts currently houses over 6 works by Gustav Kruell; including portraits of William M. Chase, and Walter Shirlaw.