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Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl

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Arthur Nahl
Born
Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl

(1833-09-01)September 1, 1833
Kassel,Germany
DiedApril 1, 1889(1889-04-01)(aged 55)
San Francisco Bay,California[1]
NationalityGerman-American
EducationLouvre Palace,Versailles,andLuxembourg Palacegalleries
Known forPainting
Notable workThe Fire in Sacramento
MovementAmerican Old West

Arthur Nahl(1 September 1833 – 1 April 1889) was a German-born artist,daguerreotyper,engraver,portraitist,andlandscape painter.Nahl was a painter known for hisAmerican Old Westpaintings ofCalifornia.He was considered one of California's finest engravers,[2]and was ranked amongst the best gymnasts in California[3]for his time.

Early life

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He was the son of Henriette (Weickh) Nahl (1796–1863). Henriette and her first husband, Georg Valentin Friedrich Nahl, had one son, the American West painterCharles Christian Nahl(1818–1878). Henriette and Georg divorced in 1826. In that year, she began a relationship with Georg's cousin, Alexander Theodor Nahl. After tiring of him, she began a relationship with Alexander's brother, Wilhelm Nahl. While Wilhelm was Hugo's biological parent, he considered Alexander to be his father.[4]Henriette and Wilhelm had one other child, a daughter, Laura.

Nahl was descended from a family of German artists dating to the 17th century.[5]His great-grandfather wasJohann August Nahl,the German sculptor and stuccoist.

His early art studies were with Charles and the family friendFrederick August Wenderoth.He later studied at theKassel Academy.Nahl moved with his mother, two brothers, and two sisters toParisin 1846. Here, Arthur and Charles studied withEmile Jean Horace VernetandHippolyte Delaroche.Charles went on to study at theLouvre Palace,Palace of Versailles,andLuxembourg Palacegalleries.[5]He received his first gold medal at age 16.[5]

Three years later, they moved toNew York City,settling inBrooklyn.[5]In 1851, they sailed by way of Panama to California in search of gold. The family bought a mine on Deer Creek nearRough and Ready, California,which fared poorly. Within a year, the family moved toSacramentowhere Nahl worked as awoodcarver.After the1852 Sacramento fire,they moved toSan Francisco.[6]

Career

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Nahl worked in charcoal, crayon, oil, and watercolor. His subjects included animals, landscapes, portraits, andgenre works.[6]

In San Francisco, Charles partnered first with his family friend Wenderoth. After Wenderoth married one of the Nahl sisters and moved to Philadelphia, Charles began a partnership with Arthur.[7]The Nahl brothers worked as commercial artists, daguerreotypers, engravers, and portrait painters. They became San Francisco's leadinglithographersand specialized insouvenirstationery.[8]They created many wood carvings from photograph images.[9]With his brother and William Dieckmann, Nahl formed the partnership of Nahl Brothers and Dieckmann in 1867, an art and photograph gallery at121 Montgomery Streetin San Francisco.[10]

When Isaiah West Taber bought out the Nahl's photography department, Nahl worked for him, coloring and retouching the photographs.[11]Nahl collaborated with others, includingBret Harte,on the cover design ofOverland Monthly.[12]

We are working like a factory; Carl [Charles] paints the heads and I paint the garments.

—Letter from Arthur to his uncle Wilhelm Nahl in Germany.[13]

His exhibitions included:

Nahl's art works are held at theOakland Museumand theCalifornia Historical Society.

Personal life

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The Nahl brothers were fine athletes. At their home in San Francisco's Bush Street, their backyard gymnasium served as the early version of theOlympic Cluband was its headquarters during the period of 1855 to 1860.[6]At Nahl's suggestion, it was named the "San Francisco Olympic Club" and, at the club's inaugural meeting on May 6, 1860, Nahl was elected its leader.[14]

Nahl married Annie Sweeney in 1865 and they moved toAlameda.One of Nahl's sons,Perham Wilhelm Nahl(1869–1935), became an artist and art professor at theUniversity of California,and founder of theCalifornia College of Arts and Crafts.Another son, Virgil Theodore Nahl (1876–1930), went to work as a staff artist for theSan Francisco Examiner.[6]A third son, Arthur Charles Nahl, was a mining engineer; his daughters Marion and Phyllis a ballet dancer, Margery, was an impressionist painter.

Nahl died in 1889 on a ferry in San Francisco Bay en route to Alameda.[15]

Partial bibliography

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  • Nahl, A., & Nahl, C. C. (1863).Instructions in gymnastics by Arthur and Charles Nahl: Illustrated with 53 plates, containing several hundred figures.San Fran: A. Rosenfield.
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  • Sutter's Mill, 1851. First Discovery of Gold in California, January 19th, 1848. (1851) Oil on canvas.
    Sutter's Mill, 1851. First Discovery of Gold in California, January 19th, 1848.(1851) Oil on canvas.
  • The Fire in Sacramento. (1852) Watercolor on paper; displayed at the Oakland Museum of California[16]
    The Fire in Sacramento.(1852) Watercolor on paper; displayed at theOakland Museum of California[16]
  • Lombard, North Point and Greenwich Docks, San Francisco Bay. (1857) Hand-colored lithograph on paper.
    Lombard, North Point and Greenwich Docks, San Francisco Bay.(1857) Hand-colored lithograph on paper.

References

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  1. ^McMann, Evelyn de Rostaing (2003).Biographical index of artists in Canada.University of Toronto Press. p. 170.ISBN0-8020-2790-3.
  2. ^Palmquist, p. 315
  3. ^Starr, p. 304
  4. ^Palmquist, Peter E.; Thomas R. Kailbourn (2000).Pioneer photographers of the far west: a biographical dictionary, 1840-1865.Stanford University Press. pp. 415, 417.ISBN0-8047-3883-1.
  5. ^abcdDriesbach, Janice Tolhurst; Harvey Jones; Katherine Church Holland (1998).Art of the gold rush.National Museum of American Art (U.S.). University of California Press. pp.126.ISBN0520214323.Arthur Nahl.
  6. ^abcd"About The Nahl Brothers".parish-paughhouse.Hughes Publishing.Retrieved9 May2010.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^Driesbach, pps. 51-52
  8. ^Hart, James David (1987).A companion to California.University of California Press. p. 344.ISBN0-520-05543-8.
  9. ^Palmquist, p. 66
  10. ^Palmquist, p. 204
  11. ^Palmquist, p. 539
  12. ^Starr, Kevin; Richard J. Orsi (2000).Rooted in barbarous soil.California Historical Society. p. 219.ISBN9780520224964.
  13. ^Driesbach, p. 59
  14. ^Janssen, Frederick William (1888).A history of American amateur athletics and aquatics: with the records(Digitized Mar 9, 2010 ed.). Outing Co. p. 131.
  15. ^"Hugo Nahl - Biography".askart.Retrieved2023-12-27.
  16. ^"Art of the Gold Rush Index".museumca.org.Oakland, California: Oakland Museum of California. 1998.Retrieved10 May2010.[permanent dead link]
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