Existing comment:
Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied
Indian Ponies, Manuscript Journal of Prince Maximilian's Travels in North America, Parts 7–14 (Vol. 2)
1833
ink and watercolor on paper
The painting on this page of Prince Maximilian's journal shows the explorer's representation of the painted horses present when he met the Minnetaree. A side-by-side comparison with Bodmer's finished print makes it abundantly clear why Humboldt had insisted that Prince Max pay a trained artist to accompany him to the United States. Max's drawing has the charm of an amateur, more concerned with recording the painted markings than the correct anatomy of the horses, while Bodmer's finished print stages the encounter as a complex, detailed narrative.
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, Gift of the Enron Art Foundation, 511.NNG |