A Swiss Eye on the American West: The Life and Art of Karl Bodmer Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1809, Johann Carl Bodmer – known to art history as Karl Bodmer – embarked on a path that would uniquely intertwine European Romanticism with the vanishing world of the North American frontier. His early life remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, yet it’s clear his artistic inclinations were nurtured from a young age through tutelage under his uncle, Johann Jakob Meier, a respected engraver. This foundational training instilled in Bodmer a meticulous attention to detail and a mastery of draftsman…