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Portrait of Karl Albert Buehr
Photograph of the artist standing beside a canvas outdoors, palette and brushes in hand.

Painter, teacher · American, born German

Giverny painter

Karl Albert Buehr

Drawn to Giverny by his friendship with Frieseke and Miller; his children played with Monet’s grandchildren, though he never met the painter.

  • Dates1866 — 1952
  • NationalityAmerican, born German
  • DisciplinePainter, teacher
  • Place of birthFeuerbach, Wurtemberg, Allemagne

Biography

Born on 14 February 1866 in Feuerbach, Württemberg, Karl Albert Buehr reached Chicago in 1881 and became an American citizen in 1888. He took evening classes at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1886, studied there from 1888 to 1894 and graduated with honours. He then worked in Paris under Frank Duveneck, at the Académie Julian with Raphaël Collin, at the Académie Colarossi and at the London School of Art. Back in Chicago he became a respected teacher at the School of the Art Institute. He died in Chicago in 1952.

Giverny

He spent his summers in Giverny from 1909 and worked there until 1912, lodging with the painter Lawton Parker. He was close to Frederick Carl Frieseke, Richard Edward Miller and Theodore Earl Butler, whose decorative manner he shared. Sources differ as to Monet: the Illinois Historical Art Project notice states the two men never met, while others think it likely — his daughter Kathleen and Lili Butler, Monet's step-granddaughter and Theodore Butler's daughter, were playmates. The detail matters less for the answer than for what it says about the later colony: one could live beside Monet without necessarily knowing him.

Relation with the Hôtel Baudy

He lodged with Lawton Parker, and no source consulted places him at the Hôtel Baudy. His stay also postdates the years covered by the surviving guest register. He appears here as a painter of Giverny.

Principal works

On the Terrace oil on canvas. Signed lower right “K.A. Buehr”. A young woman at tea on a terrace, among the green of garden chairs and the filtered light of the foliage. Holding collection to be established.

Key points

  • 1866Born — Feuerbach, Wurtemberg, Allemagne
  • Giverny1909 — 1912, summers
  • 1952Died

Sources

Around them

Related artists

Portrait of Frederick Carl Frieseke Discover Frederick Carl Frieseke 1874 — 1939 American · Painter Settled lastingly in Giverny, he painted women in gardens and light filtered through foliage. Portrait of Richard Edward Miller Discover Richard Edward Miller 1875 — 1943 American · Painter Elegant women reading or walking in flowering gardens, in a highly refined palette. Portrait of Theodore Earl Butler Discover Theodore Earl Butler 1861 — 1936 American · Painter A lodger at the Hôtel Baudy in 1888, he became Monet’s son-in-law and the only member of the colony to die in Giverny.

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