John Caspar Wild Explained
| John Caspar Wild |
| Birth Name: | Johann Caspar Wild [1] |
| Birth Date: | July 1, 1804 |
| Birth Place: | Richterswil, Switzerland |
| Death Date: | August 12, 1846 |
| Death Place: | Davenport, Iowa, U.S. |
| Nationality: | Swiss |
| Field: | Painting, printmaking |
John Caspar Wild (or J.C. Wild) (1804 - August 12, 1846) was a Swiss-American painter and lithographer. He created early city views and landscapes of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Davenport, Iowa.
Wild specialized in hand-colored lithographs. These views, particularly the Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated, were some of the first depictions of the American West.
Early life
Wild was born in Richterswil in the Canton of Zürich[2] in Switzerland.
Career
He moved to Paris, France. In 1832, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri.[4] In summer 1844, he moved a final time, to Davenport, Iowa, a small town in the upper Mississippi River Valley.
Wild fell gravely ill with tuberculosis[5] in the summer of 1846, and he was taken in by Davenport millinery businessman George L. Webb.[5] On his deathbed, Wild reflected upon his childhood and said that he yearned to die in homeland in Switzerland, but it was a wish that was to not be fulfilled.[5] Wild died on August 12, 1846.[6] Wild was laid to rest nearly on the banks of the river, which he had painted for years. Wild's grave site was unmarked for decades.[7]
Notable collections
- Pennsylvania Hospital, circa 1840, Library Company of Philadelphia[8]
Further reading
- Reps, John William, and J. C. Wild. 2006. John Caspar Wild: painter and printmaker of nineteenth-century urban America. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press. Designed by Steve Hartman of Creativille, Inc. https://web.archive.org/web/20081208220008/http://www.creativille.net/
- Wild, J. C., and Lewis Foulk Thomas. 1948. The valley of the Mississippi: illustrated in a series of views, accompanied with historical descriptions. St. Louis, Mo: Joseph Garnier. (this is a reprint; original edition published 1841–2)
External links
- John Cushman Abbott Exhibit Supplement includes a discussion of Wild and his book The Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated in a Series of Views, a slide show of illustrations from the book, and a downloadable pdf of the book.
Notes and References
- John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page1
- John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page1
- Web site: University of Pennsylvania. Library Company of Philadelphia. World Digital Library. 1 January 2014.
- John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page 95
- Geschichte der Stadt Davenport, August P. Richter, Page 293
- John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page 105
- Web site: Artist is the reason we know what Davenport looked like. 13 September 2014 .
- Web site: Pennsylvania Hospital. Library Company of Philadelphia. World Digital Library. 1 January 2014.
