White Cliffs
(Information)

Missouri River Breaks, MT
Oil on Paper
14"x18"
June, 2001


Location Photo

Underpainting

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In August 1833, Swiss artist Karl Bodmer, accompanying the German Prince Maximillian of Weid on a scientific expedition up the Missouri river, sketched in watercolor many of formations of the Missouri Breaks. In the left lower part of his watercolor (View of the Stone Walls) the white cliffs and other recognizable features can be seen. His view corresponds well with the photo I took in 2001. The perspective of my painting is from the shoreline just beyond the dark cliff on the right bank, a Lewis and Clarke campsite. It is amazing that this scene is virtually unchanged since Bodmer's time. The image and the following text are from the book "Karl Bodmer's America", Joslyn Art Museum, 1984.