The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: John Lewis Krimmel (1786-1821)

Title: Sketchbooks

Dates: 1809-1821

Call No.: Col. 308

Acc. No.: 59x5

Quantity: 7 volumes, 1 microfilm reel, photographs

Location: 4 A 5-6

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

John Lewis Krimmel was a genre and portrait painter. He was born on May 30, 1786, in Ebingen (Wurttemberg, Germany), to Johann Jacob and Elisabetha Catharina Nordliner Krimmel. Johann Krimmel was a confectioner. Johann Ludwig (John Lewis) Krimmel emigrated to the United States around 1809, joining his older brother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There he painted portraits, miniatures, and satiric street scenes. He briefly returned to Germany in 1817 but was back in Philadelphia by 1819. Early in 1821, Krimmel was elected President of the Association of American Artists, but on July 15 of that year he accidentally drowned near Germantown, Pennsylvania, cutting his career short.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection consists of seven sketchbooks in watercolor, pencil, and pen and ink kept by Krimmel between 1809 and 1821. Included are sketches of mountains, harbor and town scenes, wooded landscapes, country scenes, boats, people, animals, flowers, household utensils, costume studies, anatomical studies, etc. A detailed list of the sketches is attached to this finding aid.

ORGANIZATION

When the volumes were accessioned by the Joseph Downs Collection, numbers were assigned to each based upon the order in which the books had been microfilmed. Subsequently, researchers have attempted to establish a chronological order for the volumes, resulting in different number sequences. A concordance follows the descriptions of the volumes below.

PROVENANCE

The volumes were probably sold from Krimmel's estate. A history of ownership compiled by Milo Naeve indicates that Mrs. Charles C. Wetherill (1804‑1882) was the first owner of the volumes. By 1850, they were in the possession of her son, Henry Mayor Wetherill (1828‑1904), for his name and date are inscribed on the cover of each book. He in turn left the sketchbooks to his daughter, Rebecca Price Wetherill Tiers (1857‑1923). Her son, Paul L. Tiers (1886-?) inherited the volumes from his mother. The sketchbooks were microfilmed while in the possession of Paul Tiers. Winterthur purchased the volumes from Tiers in 1959.

RESTRICTIONS

Researchers must consult the microfilm (Mic. 186) or photographs before obtaining access to the original sketches.

RELATED MATERIALS

Two letters about Krimmel's commission to copy Benjamin West's painting of "Christ Healing the Sick" for the Pennsylvania Hospital are in the Mrs. Joseph Carson Autograph Collection (Col. 66) at this repository. One is a letter from Krimmel to Samuel Coates, and the other is a letter from Thomas Sully to Coates.

A scrapbook at this repository, Doc. 520, contains an engraving of one of Krimmel’s paintings. A printed reproduction of another of his paintings, “The Artist and His Family,” is found in Col. 315, acc. 67x121, p. 69 and p. 90.

The Winterthur Museum houses two of Krimmel's oil paintings: "Quilting Frolic" and "Election Scene. State House in Philadelphia," as well as three prints of his works: "The Conflagration of the Masonic Hall," "Election Day in Philadelphia," and "Election Day at the State House."

ACCESS POINTS

Topics:

Artists' preparatory studies.

Genre painting - 19th century.

Landscape in art.

Women in art.

Animals in art.

Blacks in art.

Flowers in art.

Cookware in art.

Kitchen utensils in art.

Costume - History - 19th century.

Buildings in art.

Watercolor drawing.

Pen drawing.

Pencil drawing.

Sketchbook.

Watercolors.

Artists.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 4 A 5-6

These descriptions are based upon written documentation from an appraisal done in 1981.

59x5.1 Contains 44 pages and includes mountain, river, and wooded landscape sketches; country scenes; harbor and port scenes; sketches of a town by a river, a boat on a river, and a ferry carrying animals; depictions of children; and figural and animal sketches. Dated examples are from 1813 and 1815.

59x5.2 Contains 70 pages with dated examples from 1817 and 1818. It includes mountain, river, valley, and wooded landscape sketches that are primarily European; village scenes and buildings; a ship sailing on an ocean; and a sketch of a European interior. Figural sketches show women at market, spinning, and serving and men drinking and playing dominoes. There are also animal and flower sketches and a series of German names.

59x5.3 Contains 82 pages, with one page cut out and four blank pages. Depictions are of mountain, river, and wooded landscapes, primarily European; figural studies; marine views; sketches of household utensils; costume studies; and animal and flower sketches. Dated examples are from 1817 and 1818.

59x5.4 Contains 48 pages with dated examples from 1810, 1811, and 1812. Included are landscapes, primarily American; figural studies; sketches for finished paintings; animal sketches; and anatomical studies.

59x5.5 Contains 46 pages with four blank pages with dated examples from 1819. Illustrations are of river and wooded landscapes; trees; harbor scenes; buildings; flower and plant sketches; figural sketches of women in classic dress and women ironing; and sketches of household utensils, kitchen equipment, animals, a fire engine, Christ on the cross, and the Pennsylvania Coat of Arms.

59x5.6 Contains 36 pages and dates from 1819. It includes landscapes, sketches of trees, flowers, plants, and foliage; barn and barnyard sketches; street scenes; buildings; tents among trees; figural sketches; and sketches of household utensils, kitchen equipment, and animals.

59x5.7 Contains 24 pages and consists of studies for three of Krimmel's paintings: "A Country Wedding," "News of Peace," and "Return from Market." Also included are figural sketches and depictions of groups in various settings: a courtroom, an artists' studio, a ship's cabin, and playing musical instruments.

A list of sketches on each page is attached.

More detailed descriptions of these sketches are provided in two books:

Naeve, Milo M. John Lewis Krimmel: An Artist in Federal America. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 1987).

Harding, Anneliese. John Lewis Krimmel: Genre Artist of the Early Republic (Winterthur: Winterthur Museum, 1994).

Reconciliation of numbers:

Downs accession no.

Microfilm no.

Naeve no.

Harding no.

59x5.1

186.1

Sketchbook 2

Sketchbook 3

59x5.2

186.2

Sketchbook 4

Sketchbook 4

59x5.3

186.3

Sketchbook 3

Sketchbook 5

59x5.4

186.4

Sketchbook 1

Sketchbook 1

59x5.5

186.5

Sketchbook 6

Sketchbook 7

59x5.6

186.6

Sketchbook 5

Sketchbook 6

59x5.7

186.7

Sketchbook 7

Sketchbook 2

The order of the sketches within each source is the same, with one exception. One sketch in volume 59x5.4, page 47 and page 48 was microfilmed out of order. At the time, few pages remained attached to the original binding. Subsequent research by scholars and conservator (Anne Clapp), determined that it was the last page of the sketchbook. It is numbered as follows: microfilm page 19 and 20; Naeve page 47 and 48; and Harding leaf 24.

Each of the descriptions of the Krimmel sketchbooks maintains the same internal order with the exception noted above; however, internal numbering varies.

Each page in the originals has been assigned a page number by Winterthur staff. While Naeve also does this in his catalogue, he also accounted for pages he deemed to be in the volume at one time (denoted as missing). Hence, page numbers do not always correspond to those assigned by Downs staff.

Harding choose to number leaves rather than pages using the terms recto and verso to distinguish front from back.

Leaf numbers written in brown ink on the sketches where assigned to pages in the volume after Krimmel's death, perhaps by Wetherill. They are no longer a reliable indication of the order and current numbering.