Artist Introduction: German-born American Painter, 1818-1878
later known as Charles Nahl, Karl Nahl, Charles Christian Nahl or Charles C. Nahl, was a German-born painter who is called California's first significant artist.He came from a long line of artists and sculptors and was trained at the Cassel Academy. Unease over the political state of Hesse led him and his friend Frederick August Wenderoth (1819-1884) to Paris in 1846, where "Charles" enjoyed some success at the salon. The February Revolution prompted another move with his half-brother Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl (1833-1889) to Brooklyn, New York, where they heard of the gold strike. They had no luck along the Yuba River but opened a studio with Wenderoth in Sacramento
were refugees of the troubles in Germany of 1848. Like thousands before them they came to California to seek fortune. They established themselves as entrepreneurs, setting up a studio and painting the first wave of miners. The painting is entitled 'Miners in the Sierras', 1851-52, oil on canvas.
Date 1851/1852
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