Alfred Jacob Miller and his Painting in Baltimore during the Civil War

Presented by Lisa Strong, Manager of Curatorial Affairs, Corcoran Gallery of Art

In 1837 Alfred Jacob Miller became one of the first artists to travel to the Rocky Mountains and paint scenes of trappers and Native Americans in the fur trade. Miller produced a series of field sketches from the trip that he re-worked into finished watercolors and oils for a variety of patrons in Baltimore over the following thirty years.  Although Miller’s paintings of the western landscape may seem far removed from life in Baltimore during the Civil War years, Miller sold more of his western scenes during the war than at any other period. This talk will examine some of Miller’s most popular paintings helped to unify merchant Baltimore and create an image of a future disconnected from sectional strife.