Frederick Kemmelmeyer

American, active 1788/1816

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German-American painter (1760-1821)

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Charlotte Marsteller

Frederick Kemmelmeyer · c. 1803 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.75

Frederick Kemmelmeyer, Martin Luther, c. 1800, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase), 2014.136.142

Martin Luther

Frederick Kemmelmeyer · c. 1800 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.142

Seven light-skinned men stand closely together at the edge of a body of water across from a group of about a dozen indigenous people with brown skin gathered in the near distance in this horizontal painting. To our left, five of the white men wear tall black hats with blue and pink feathers. In shades of royal blue, parchment white, pine green, or brick red, their caped suits have slashes across the chest, shoulders, and upper thighs. Some hold or wear swords, and most have knee-high, olive-green boots. At the back of the group, a hatless, balding man wears a long brown robe with a rosary and cross hanging from his waist. He holds a tall wooden cross, and the others carry spear-like halberds, a rifle, or a white banner. The man at the front of the group holds a sword down by one side and gestures toward the group of brown-skinned people with his other hand. Two rowboats filled with similarly dressed men approach their position on the left side. Three wooden ships lie in the water beyond the men. The indigenous men, women, and children wear off-white or red loincloths, along with earrings, necklaces, armbands, and anklets. Many have feathers in their dark hair. One person at the front of that group kneels and points toward the water with one hand as he holds out a pineapple with the other. The two groups are separated by a jewel-blue waterway that runs between them. More beach and hazy blue mountains in the deep distance curve toward the center of the composition. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left, though the inscription is now incomplete. It reads, “eyer Pin t th January 180.” In the lower right, and inscription reads, “First Landing of C.R COLUMBUS at the Island St SALVADOR South AMERICA the 11th October.”
Frederick Kemmelmeyer, First Landing of Christopher Columbus, 1800/1805, oil on canvas, Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1966.13.3

First Landing of Christopher Columbus

Frederick Kemmelmeyer · 1800/1805 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1966.13.3

Bibliography

1984

  • Adams, E. Bryding. "Frederick Kemmelmeyer, Maryland Itinerant Artist." Antiques 125 (January 1984): 284-292.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 238-239.