Carl (Carlos) Nebel (German, 1805-1855)


The Battle of Buena Vista, February 22nd-23rd, 1847 oil on canvas68.5 x 86.5cm (27 x 34in).
|ProvenanceWith Bland Gallery Inc., New York.Private collection, US.ExhibitedNew York, Museum of Modern Art, American Battle Painting, 1776–1918, September 26 - November 12, 1944, no. 261, loaned to the exhibition by Mr Harry MacNeill Bland.Claremont, California, Scripps College Art Galleries, Heritage of the Southwest Post-Columbian Colonial Arts, February - March 1957, no.17.Attracted by Baron von Humboldt's travels from 1799 to 1804 and his subsequent publications on South America, many artists started to arrive in Mexico, among them the young German, Carl Nebel. Nebel visited Mexico from 1829 to 1834, and having completed his journey through the Northern, Coastal and Bajío regions, as well as visiting Mexico City and Puebla, he returned to Paris. Upon his return he set about producing his renowned Voyage pittoresque et archéologique dans la partie la plus intéressante du Méxique, published in 1836 and in which he illustrated his travels with 50 lithographs; Humboldt, taken by Nebel's exploits, wrote the prologue.Having enjoyed success with his views in Mexico, Nebel travelled back to the Americas and it is on this second trip that he would produce the body of work for which he is best known today. Nebel created a series of 12 paintings documenting the key conflicts of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Working with the American writer and soldier George Wilkins Kendall (1809-1867), Nebel had his views of the war converted into a series of lithographs which were published to accompany Kendall's detailed accounts of the war. This book was published as The War between the United States and Mexico (New York, 1851). Commenting on the pre-publication proofs of the lithographs, a contemporary reviewer wrote:"We have never seen anything to equal the artistic skill, perfection of design, marvelous beauty of execution, delicacy of truth of coloring, and lifelike animation of figures ... They present the most exquisite specimens ever exhibited in this country of the art of colored lithography; and we think that great praise ought to be awarded to Mr. Kendall for having secured such brilliant and beautiful and costly illustrations for the faithful record of the victories of the American army" (New Orleans Picayune, 15 July 1850)The painting on offer here is not only an extremely rare example of one of Nebel's oils which was used for this publication, it is also an extremely rare depiction of The Battle of Buena Vista. Although, neither Kendall or Nebel were involved in this battle, or even visited the site, the accuracy of this depiction is attributed to an eyewitness account from Captain James H. Carleton of the First Dragoons. The care taken to ensure true-to-life representations of events in each of these works is commented on in Kendall's preface to the book:"So far as regards the general configuration of the ground, fidelity of the landscape, and correctness of the works and buildings introduced, they may be strictly relied upon. Every reader must be aware of the impossibility, in painting a battle scene, of giving more than one feature or principal incident of the strife. The artist has ever chosen what he deemed the more interesting as well as exciting points of each combat ... in the present series of illustrations the greatest care has been taken to avoid inaccuracies." The Battle of Buena Vista (22-23 February, 1847), also known as the Battle of Angostura, is known for America's victory over Mexico, although being heavily outnumbered c.4,500 men to c.15,000. The battle itself was a drawn-out skirmish style of warfare that saw large numbers of troops moving and adopting various strategic positions throughout the two days of fighting. However, the battle is best known for the effectiveness with which artillery was employed, and it was the late arrival of an artillery battery under Captain Braxton Bragg which saw the Mexican forces repulsed and forced to retreat. This painting depicts the moment at which Captain John Paul Jones O'Brien and the 2nd Indiana Regiment fought to stave off the Mexican advance on the key plateau of the fight. They would go on to lose their position and their guns, however, the ferocity of their fighting is accounted for the holding off of the Mexicans long enough to allow Bragg's crucial backup to take position.