![Anna Maria von Phul](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Anna_Maria_von_Phul.jpg)
Anna Maria von Phul (1786–1823) was an American artist who used
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
to illustrate local
Creole culture, including architecture, clothing, hairstyles, and other aspects of daily life. Much of her body of work was created in the
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
region.
Life
![Painting of Boy in a Beaver Hat by Anna Maria Von Phul](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Painting_of_Boy_in_a_Beaver_Hat_by_Anna_Maria_Von_Phul.jpg)
Anna Maria von
Phul
Olympian spirits (or ''Olympic spirits'', ''Olympick spirits'') refers to seven (or sometimes fourteen) spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the ''Arbatel de magia veterum'', ...
was born in 1786 in Philadelphia. She soon moved to Kentucky with her widowed mother and siblings. While in Kentucky, von Phul studied French, drawing, and watercolor at a young-ladies academy in Lexington operated by
George
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and Mary Beck, painting some of the town's architecture.
Art was typically considered a hobby for many of the more elite young women in the early 1800s, but von Phul showed a particular talent and was encouraged by her family and instructors to continue her artistic studies. Von Phul chose instead to devote her time to her family, creating works of art only in her free time. She never pursued art professionally. Most of her drawings and watercolors were created as gifts for her friends and family.
Around 1817–8, von Phul traveled to
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
to visit her brother,
Henry
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*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
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* Portuguese royalty
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, who was a businessman in St. Louis, and her sister, who was living in the neighboring town of
Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri ...
.
Between 1817 and 1821, von Phul created the majority of her remaining artwork. None of von Phul's sketches and watercolors produced after 1821 survive. She died on July 28, 1823, while visiting her sister in Edwardsville. An obituary was published in the ''Edwardsville Spectator''.
Artwork
Anna Maria von Phul's earlier sketches and watercolors are mostly limited to landscapes and silhouettes.
Her later works depict various aspects of the local Creole life in the St. Louis area, which later earned her the title, "the Eyes of the Missouri Territory".
Her watercolors are small and painted delicately, but provide significant insights into Creole life in St. Louis during the early 1800s. These paintings are especially important because they illustrate the colors of the Creole culture.
Some of her works depict the people of the Creole culture as working class.
The subjects of her artwork include landscapes, buildings, furniture, clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, horse-drawn carriages, and people engaged in typical everyday activities. She filled multiple sketchbooks with her work, which were later rediscovered by her descendants in 1953 and donated to the
Missouri Historical Society
The Missouri Historical Society was founded in St. Louis on August 11, 1866. Founding members created the historical society "for the purpose of saving from oblivion the early history of the city and state".
Organization
The Missouri Historica ...
.
A short biography by Cathy Johnson was published in 2001.
References
External links
Missouri Women
Missouri Remembers: Artists in Missouri through 1951
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phul, Anna Maria von
Painters from Missouri
Artists from St. Louis
1786 births
1823 deaths
Artists from Philadelphia
Painters from Pennsylvania
19th-century American painters
19th-century American women artists
American women painters
American watercolorists
Women watercolorists