Nationality American Known for Painting, printmaking | Name John Wild | |
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Full Name Johann Caspar Wild Born July 1, 1804 Switzerland Died August 12, 1846, Davenport, Iowa, United States Books John Caspar Wild: Painter and Printmaker of Nineteenth-century Urban America | ||
John Caspar Wild (or J.C. Wild) (1804 – August 12, 1846) was an American painter and lithographer.
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Personal life
John Caspar Wild was born in Richterswil, Canton Zürich, Switzerland. He moved to Paris, France. In 1832 he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wild's final home was Davenport, Iowa, a small town in the upper Mississippi river valley. He moved there from St. Louis in the summer of 1844. Wild fell gravely ill with Tuberculosesin the summer of 1846 and he was taken in by Davenport, Iowa millinery businessman George L. Webb.On his death bed, Wild reflected upon his childhood and he yearned to die in his Swiss homeland; it was a wish that was to not be fulfilledWild died on August 12, 1846.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.
Work
He created early city views and landscapes of Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, and Davenport, Iowa. He specialized in hand-colored lithographs. These views, particularly the Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated were some of the first depictions of the American West.