Charles Christian Nahl, (1818-1878)

Visit to Grandpa 30 x 25 1/4in framed 47 x 38 1/2in

Visit to Grandpa
signed, inscribed and dated 'Charles Nahl Brooklyn near New Jork [sic] 1850. (lower left)
oil on canvas
30 x 25 1/4in
framed 47 x 38 1/2in
Painted in 1850.

Provenance
John Bell Graham, Brooklyn, New York, 1850.
J. H. Bell, New York, 1853.
Brooklyn Museum, 1898.
Mrs. George Heiser.
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, purchased from the above by Henry Knapp Skelding Williams (1859-1944) for the Mildred Anna William Collection, 1942.
Sold to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Exhibited
Sacramento, Oakland and San Diego, Charles Christian Nahl: Artist of the Gold Rush, 1818-1878, July 10 - August 29, 1976, September 14 - October 31, 1976, and November 20, 1976 - January 2, 1977, no. 9.

Literature
M.L. Stevens, Charles Christian Nahl: Artist of the Gold Rush, 1818-1878, Sacramento, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, 1976, pp. 29, 110.

The present work is significant as it is believed to be the first genre painting Charles Christian Nahl completed after moving to America. The painting 'demonstrates the finish prized by the [German] academic school.' Over time, work from his American period shows the influence of his Paris training with a lighter palette.