Female Deity

1845–1859

A resource for Americans in Düsseldorf

For visiting Americans he is a real resource: he finds them places to live and work, provides introductions, and gives them emotional and even financial support. For many years he is president of the Düsseldorf Artists’ Association.

1848

Supports the Revolutions of 1848

A strong supporter of Europe’s Revolutions of 1848, he decides to paint a picture that would encourage Europe’s liberal reformers with the example of the American Revolution.

1850

Fire in the studio damages the first version

Just after its completion the first version is damaged by fire in his studio; it is restored and acquired by the Kunsthalle Bremen.

1851

Second version shown on Broadway

The second, larger replica of the first version, ordered in 1850 by the Parisian art trader Adolphe Goupil for his New York branch, goes on exhibition on Broadway; it is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

1859

Returns to the United States; a studio in New York

Returns to the United States, opens a studio in New York City and divides his time between New York and Washington, D.C.

1860

Congress commissions the decoration of a Capitol stairway

The U.S. Congress commissions him to decorate a stairway in the Capitol in Washington, for which he paints the large composition “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way”, also known as “Westward Ho!”.