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Original Edward Beyer Sketch of Charleston, West Virginia
Finely executed sketch of Charleston, by distinguished German artist Edward Beyer, whose Album of Virginia is considered one of the most important illlustrated works on Virginia from the 19th Century.
The image shows the City of Charleston from across the Kanawah River.
This sketch was almost certainly drawn on the spot by Beyer, during his tour of Virginia and would later become the model for his larger painting of Charleston (see below). This original was then retained by Beyer and taken back to Germany, where in 1857 a series of 40 of his views were converted to lithography and later sold in Virginia as the Album of Virginia, perhaps the greatest compilation of views of Virginia from the 19th Century.
This image is drawn and colored in the style of the images which appear in the Album of Virginia, but is not one of the 40 images from the book. Beyer is known to have exhibited approximately 150 images drawn during his time in America after his return to Germany in 1863.
In his classical work on the topic, Deak writes:
[Beyer] was taken by the beauty of the Virginia landscape, particularly by the elegant settings of some of the region's watering places...Virginians responded warmly to Beyer's enterprise and often gave him advance access to architectural plans when these could be of help to him. There was probably no Virginia county that Beyer left unvisited in his zeal to present what is, in fact, an affectionate family album of an entire state." Deak praises Beyer's "delicate and precise style" and "characteristic refinement of proportion.
Bennett wrote: "this is a major outstanding item, the rarity of which is by no means fully appreciated" (Bennett)
A larger and more ornate version of Beyer's painting of Charleston, West Virginia, also survives. The owner reports that Beyer was offered a commission for the painting from a number of businessmen in the community. Afterwards, they had a lottery to decide who among them would own the painting. It is currently owned by descendants of the man who won the lottery.
Although the title page gives Richmond as a place of printing, the Album of Virginia was actually produced in Germany, with the plates being prepared in Dresden and the letterpress in Berlin. Originally issued in five parts. The plates are 40 tinted lithographs by Rau & son, Dresden (18), and W. Locillot, Berlin (22).
We note that Beyer's oil painting of Charleston was appraised on Antiques Road Show at $250,000 in 2014. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/19/charleston-wv/appraisals/1854-edward-beyer-panoramic-oil--201408A09/
https://historyarchive.org/works/creators/edward-beyer
Beyer was a graduate of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied between 1837 and 1838 under Joseph Wintergerst and Rudolf Wiegmann.
Beyer traveled to the United States in 1848 with his wife, living first in Newark, New Jersey and later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Cincinnati, Ohio.
From 1845-1856, Beyer sketched and painted extensively in western Virginia, portraying picturesque market towns, landmarks, resort springs, and plantations. Many of Bayer's views were included in his Album of Virginia, a rare folio of over forty color lithographs. Printed in Dresden and Berlin by leading lithographers, the collection was bound, published, and marketed in Richmond in 1857 and 1858.
Bayer returned to Germany and, in 1863, exhibited a panorama of 150 views of America to wide acclaim.
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