Steamwheeler on the Upper Mississippi
On View In:
Gallery 303
Artist:   Ferdinand Richardt  
Title:   Steamwheeler on the Upper Mississippi  
Date:   1865  
Medium:   Oil on canvas  
Dimensions:   24 3/8 x 31 3/4 in. (61.91 x 80.65 cm) (sight) 32 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (82.55 x 100.97 x 6.35 cm) (outer frame)  
Credit Line:   Gift of Don and Diana Lee Lucker  
Location:   Gallery 303  

Before immigrating to America in 1873, Richardt (1819-1895) first visited America between 1855-1859, during which time he visited and visually documented several of the country's greatest natural wonders such as Niagara, Mammouth Caves, Virginia's Natural Bridge, and the upper reaches of the mighty Mississippi. Upon his arrival in St. Paul in 1857, the artist immediately began to explore the region's key geographical landmarks such as Lake Pepin and St. Anthony Falls. This painting, created back in Denmark nine years after the artist's visit to the region, is obviously based upon Richardt's sketches from 1857 and very likely may be a revised version of a painting now in the Minnesota Historical Society which incorporates this view into a broader vista along the same stretch of river between southern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Richardt, Ferdinand  
Nationality:   American  
Life Dates:   American, 1819 - 1895  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:   Signature in oil LRC: [F. Reichardt 1865]  
Classification:   Paintings  
Physical Description:   steamwheeler on river front center; bluffs on L bank  
Creation Place:   , Denmark, , ,  
Accession #:   2004.211  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts