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Frederick Kemmelmeyer (c. 1755 - c. 1821) was a German-born American painter. He was entirely self-taught and his work is generally classified as
folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
.


Biography

His approximate birth year has been established through census records, but no birth certificate or baptismal record has been found. Naturalization papers in
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, dating from 1788, list a Frederick Kimmelmeiger, who is assumed to be him, although it is not known when or why he came to the United States. Speculation has centered around a Friedrich Kimmelmeyer who served as a medic with the Hessians during the
Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
, deserted to the Americans, and was briefly married in South Carolina, but no firm connection has been made.Biography
@ AskArt. Soon after becoming a citizen, he placed advertisements in the ''
Maryland Gazette ''The Gazette'', founded in 1727 as ''The Maryland Gazette'', is one of the oldest newspapers in America. Its modern-day descendant, ''The Capital,'' was acquired by The Baltimore Sun Media Group in 2014. Previously, it was owned by the Capita ...
'' and the ''Baltimore Advertiser'', offering his services as a drawing instructor, a painter of miniatures and a sign painter.Biography
@ the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...
. Many of his early works are copies of European
lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
s and engravings. He remained in Baltimore until 1803, when he became an itinerant portrait painter. Over the next fourteen years, his travels can be traced through his advertisements, beginning in
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
, where he opened a school. Shortly after, he relocated to Georgetown. Several of his paintings from that period are portraits of
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
or scenes from battles that feature him. By 1805, he appears to have been in Hagerstown, then went a bit further, to
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...
. This was followed, in 1810, by advertisements in
Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...
. Two years later, he taught and painted in what is now
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
. His last known advertisement appeared in 1816, in Hagerstown. A combination of age and alcoholism apparently had a serious negative effect on his ability to paint. His last years are largely undocumented. Only eleven portraits have been positively identified as his.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemmelmeyer, Frederick 1750s births 1820s deaths 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists American portrait painters Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters Painters from Maryland Painters from Virginia Folk artists Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Immigrants to the United States