Karl Bodmer

Niagara Falls

In 1832, Karl Bodmer accompanied naturalist Prince Alexander Philipp Maximilian of Neuwied, Prussia (now in Germany) on an excursion into the American West. Although Maximilian and Bodmer were not the first to explore the terrain, their team was the first that combined a dedicated scientist with a skilled illustrator.

The result of their efforts, Travels in the Interior of North America 1832 to 1834, was published serially in between 1839-41, and included eight-one engraved etchings by Bodmer.

The travelers encountered the splendor of Niagara Falls near Buffalo, New York, on June 28th, 1834, towards the end of their expedition. The Falls were a popular subject for American landscape artists of the nineteenth century, but Bodmer’s eye for dramatic composition and precisely rendered detail made this image one of the finest representations of the scene to be reproduced in print.