Brief Biography-Karl Bodmer was born in Reisbach, Switzerland. He received his tuition from his engraver uncle Johann Jakob Meier, who Johann Heinrich Füssli had tutored. In 1832 while in Koblenz, he was requested by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied to accompany him on an expedition to North America. Prince Max was an explorer, ethnologist, and naturalist. They left for America with the taxidermist David Dreidoppel, and the team travelled as far west as Montana. Bodmer spent his time sketching the indigenous tribe’s people they encountered. Unfortunately, many of those he drew died from diseases such as smallpox brought in by migrants within a decade.
When they returned to Europe, Bodmer stayed in Paris, putting his sketches into watercolours. The subsequent aquatints went into Maximilian’s accounts named Maximilian Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America. In addition, they had the chronicles published in several different languages.
Bodmer later moved to Barbizon, where he painted alongside François Millet. His works at this stage were primarily landscapes and well-received in Paris. In 1877, he became a Knight in the French Légion d’Honneur.