Charles Christian Nahl
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Carl Christian Heinrich Nahl (October 18, 1818 – March 1, 1878), later known as Charles Nahl (sometimes he is recorded as Karl Nahl, Charles Christian Nahl or Charles C. Nahl), was a German-born painter who lived in the United States for the last half of his life. He lived most of those 30 years in California and is considered among the state's first significant painters. Leaving political unrest in
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Nahl immigrated to New York City in 1848 with family and friends. He moved to California the following year, at first hoping for luck in the gold rush. He and his family settled in what became part of the United States, living in Sacramento until 1852 and then in San Francisco.


Early years

Born in 1818, Carl Christian Nahl was the son of Georg Valentin Friedrich Nahl (1791–1857) and Henriette (Weickh) Nahl (1796–1863). His parents divorced in 1826. He came from a long line of artists and sculptors. His great-grandfather was
Johann August Nahl Johann August Nahl (22 August 1710 in Berlin – 22 October 1781 in Kassel) was a German sculptor and plasterer. He was first taught by his father Johann Samuel Nahl (1664–1727), who had been court sculptor of Frederic I since 1704. ...
, a German sculptor and stuccist. Nahl was trained at the
Kassel Academy Kunsthochschule Kassel (German; "Kassel College of Art") is a college of fine arts in Kassel, Germany. Founded in 1777, it is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Kassel . Notable people * Daniel Stieglitz * Peter Angermann * Si ...
.


Career

At the time of rising political tensions in
Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
in the 1840s, Nahl and his friend
Frederick August Wenderoth Frederick August Wenderoth or F. A. Wenderoth (1819 – 1884) was a German-born American painter and photographer. Born and educated in Cassel, where he first learned to paint from his father, he established a lifelong friendship with Charles Ch ...
(1819–1884) moved to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1846. There he enjoyed some success at the ''
salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...
'' and changed his name to the French version, "Charles". The
February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
of 1848 prompted another move by Nahl and Wenderoth. They were accompanied this time by Nahl's mother and siblings, including half-brother
Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl Arthur Nahl (1 September 1833 – 1 April 1889) was a German-born artist, daguerreotyper, engraving, engraver, portraitist, and landscape painting, landscape painter. Nahl was a painter known for his American Old West paintings of California. ...
(1833–1889) and half-sister Laura Nahl (d. 1857). They emigrated to
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, where they heard of the gold strike. Nahl reached
Nevada City, California Nevada City (originally, ''Ustumah'', a Nisenan village; later, Nevada, Deer Creek Dry Diggins, and Caldwell's Upper Store) is the county seat of Nevada County, California, United States, northeast of Sacramento, southwest of Reno and northea ...
the next year, and moved to
Rough and Ready, California Rough and Ready is a census-designated place in Nevada County, California, United States. It is located west of Grass Valley, California, approximately 62 miles (100 km) from Sacramento. The population was 963 at the 2010 census. It has frequ ...
. Here, he mistakenly purchased a " salted" mine. Having no luck in mining along the
Yuba River The Yuba River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada and eastern Sacramento Valley, in the U.S. state of California. The main stem of the river is about long, and its headwaters are split into three major forks. The Yuba Rive ...
, Nahl and his young half-brother Arthur opened a studio with Wenderoth in
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, which was booming with mining-related businesses. They painted images of miners and life on the frontier. After the 1852 Sacramento fire, they moved to San Francisco. (Arthur Nahl made an illustration of the fire). Wenderoth left for a trip to the South Seas and Australia, through 1853. After his return, in 1856, he married Laura Nahl, his friend's half-sister. They moved to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania, where they intended to settle. Laura died later that year or in 1857, in the birth of their first child, who also died. Wenderoth lived and worked for a time in South Carolina, then returned to Philadelphia.


Olympic Club

The Nahl brothers were also fine athletes. At their home in San Francisco's Bush Street, they created a backyard gymnasium that served as the early version of the
Olympic Club The Olympic Club is an sports club, athletic club and private social club in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. First named the "San Francisco Olympic Club", it is the oldest sports club, athletic club in the United States. Established o ...
. It was the headquarters for the Club from 1855 to 1860. His brother Arthur Nahl suggested naming it the "San Francisco Olympic Club". At the inaugural meeting on May 6, 1860, Arthur Nahl was elected as its Leader.


Selected gallery

File:Nahl 1850, Der Isthmus von Panama auf der Höhe des Chagres River.jpg, ''Incident on the Chagres River'' (Nahl, 1850),
Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
File:Albertus Del Orient Browere 1853, The lone prospector.jpg, ''The lone prospector,'' 1853, Browere File:Charles Christian Nahl, Sacramento Indian with Dogs 1867.jpg, ''Unidentified Man'' (Nahl, 1867), de Young Museum, San Francisco. File:Charles Christian Nahl 1871, The Rape Of The Sabines - The Invasion.jpg, ''The Rape Of The Sabines—The Invasion'' (Nahl, 1871),
Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...
File:Charles Christian Nahl - Peter Quivey and the Mountain Lion - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Peter Quivey and the Mountain Lion,'' Nahl


References


External links


Watercolor gallery
of the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

link collection
on Artcyclopedia
Romans and Sabines
Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...
online * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nahl, Charles Christian 1818 births 1878 deaths Artists from Kassel 19th-century American painters American male painters Artists of the American West American portrait painters American landscape painters American history painters German emigrants to the United States German landscape painters 19th-century American male artists Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park