Bernard Wiegandt (1851–1918), Germany
Landscape, 1879
Watercolor on paper
Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros
Wiegandt lived in Brazil from 1875 to 1880, during which time he studied the country’s botanical diversity and made sketches and watercolors of the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Vigia, Mucana, Pará, and Belem. The dramatic qualities of his Brazilian works bear traces of his work as a painter of theater sets in Berlin and Hannover. This landscape shows an Amazonian canoe in the water near a small island, which overflows with lush vegetation and tropical palms. Following his return to Germany, Wiegandt’s scientifically accurate works were acknowledged by the Brazilian government as a significant contribution to the study of their national flora.