John Caspar Wild
Wild's grave monument
Born
Johann Caspar Wild [1]

July 1, 1804
Richterswil, Switzerland
DiedAugust 12, 1846
Davenport, Iowa, U.S.
NationalitySwiss
Known forPainting, printmaking
Cincinnati from behind Newport Barracks, 1835

John Caspar Wild (or J.C. Wild[2]) (1804 – August 12, 1846) was a Swiss-American painter and lithographer. He created early city views and landscapes of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Davenport, Iowa.[2]

Wild specialized in hand-colored lithographs. These views, particularly the Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated, were some of the first depictions of the American West.

Early life

Wild was born in Richterswil in the Canton of Zürich[1] in Switzerland.

Career

He moved to Paris, France. In 1832, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2] He later moved to St. Louis, Missouri.[3] In summer 1844, he moved a final time, to Davenport, Iowa, a small town in the upper Mississippi River Valley.

Wild fell gravely ill with tuberculosis[4] in the summer of 1846, and he was taken in by Davenport millinery businessman George L. Webb.[4] On his deathbed, Wild reflected upon his childhood and said that he yearned to die in homeland in Switzerland, but it was a wish that was to not be fulfilled.[4] Wild died on August 12, 1846.[5] Wild was laid to rest nearly on the banks of the river, which he had painted for years. Wild's grave site was unmarked for decades.[6]

Notable collections

University of Pennsylvania campus, located on the west side of 9th Street between Market and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, in hand colored lithograph created in 1842 by John Caspar Wild of Penn's then Medical Hall (left) and College Hall (right), both built 1829–1830
  • Pennsylvania Hospital, circa 1840, Library Company of Philadelphia[7]

Further reading

  • Reps, John William, and J. C. Wild. 2006. John Caspar Wild: painter and printmaker of nineteenth-century urban America. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press. ISBN 1-883982-55-3 Designed by Steve Hartman of Creativille, Inc.
  • Wild, J. C., and Lewis Foulk Thomas. 1948. The valley of the Mississippi: illustrated in a series of views, accompanied with historical descriptions. St. Louis, Mo: Joseph Garnier. (this is a reprint; original edition published 1841–2)

References

  1. 1 2 John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page1
  2. 1 2 3 4 "University of Pennsylvania". Library Company of Philadelphia. World Digital Library. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  3. ↑ John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page 95
  4. 1 2 3 Geschichte der Stadt Davenport, August P. Richter, Page 293
  5. ↑ John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of 19th Century Urban America, John W. Reps. Page 105
  6. ↑ "Artist is the reason we know what Davenport looked like". 13 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Pennsylvania Hospital". Library Company of Philadelphia. World Digital Library. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Caspar Wild.
  • John Cushman Abbott Exhibit Supplement includes a discussion of Wild and his book The Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated in a Series of Views, a slide show of illustrations from the book, and a downloadable pdf of the book.
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