Carl G. von Iwonski
Photograph from the Texas State Historical Association
Born
Carl G. von Iwonski

(1830-04-23)April 23, 1830
Hilbersdorf, Saxony
DiedApril 4, 1912(1912-04-04) (aged 81)
Breslau, Germany
NationalityGerman American
EducationBerlin Academy of Art
Known forPainter
Sculptor

Carl G. von Iwonski (1830–1912) was a painter born in Germany who became a naturalized American citizen. He was artistically active in San Antonio and New Braunfels, and best known for his portraits of Texas pioneers.

Early life

Carl G. von Iwonski was born April 23, 1830, at Hilbersdorf, Kingdom of Saxony to former Prussian Army officer Leopold von Iwonski and his wife Marie (Kalinowska-Tshirski) von Iwonski. At age 15, he emigrated with his family to Texas with the Adelsverein settlers, disembarking at Galveston on December 18, 1845, from the Johann Detthard .[1]

Log Cabin, New Braunfels

The family initially settled at Castell and Mill streets in New Braunfels. Leopold von Iwonski sold his 320-acre land grant and moved the family across the Guadalupe River from New Braunfels, to a settlement which came to be known as Neighborsville.[2] The Iwonski home was on the Old San Antonio Road and doubled as a stage stop. Young Carl helped out on the family farm, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1854. His first known artistic effort was an 1853 sketch of the family's log cabin.[3]

New Braunfels

Iwonski's first known sketch books date to 1855, coinciding with his opening a studio in New Braunfels. His preferred media were pencil, ink, watercolor. He also made oil portraits of German settlers, and later became skilled as a sculptor. When Duke Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg visited New Braunfels on an 1855 visit, Iwonski made him a gift of six pencil sketches of his Texas creations. From 1855 to 1857, he made a series of sketches of the New Braunfels Amateur Theater.[4]

San Antonio

Iwonski moved to San Antonio in 1857 and in 1859 became associated with artist William DeRyee.[5] Iwonski began making sketches of troops stationed in the south Texas area during the Civil War. His most famous was The Terry's Rangers. He also became a teacher at the Bickler German-English Academy. From 1866 to 1870, Iwonski ran a San Antonio photography studio with fellow artist Hermann Lungkwitz.[6] In addition to his portraits, he began painting landscapes.

During Reconstruction, Carl von Iwonski became San Antonio city tax collector, and his father Leopold became Bexar County treasurer. Both father and son become radical leaders in the local Republican party, and Carl began to draw political cartoons. Leopold von Iwonski died in office on October 15, 1872.

Iwonski took a sabbatical in 1871 to study at the Berlin Academy of Art.

Personal life and death

Carl G. von Iwonski never married. In 1873, he accompanied his widowed mother back to Germany and remained there the rest of his life. He died in Breslau on April 4, 1912.

Selected works

Samuel Maverick Jr with
Terry's Texas Rangers
  • Log Cabin, New Braunfels (Iwonski family home) (1853)
  • Sketches of the New Braunfels Amateur Theater (1855–1857)
  • New Braunfels Germania Gesangverein (1857)
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1859)
  • The Terry Rangers (1862)
  • German general staff during the Franco-Prussian War (1871)

Portraits

References

  1. ↑ "Iwonski immigration record". Galveston Historical Foundation. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  2. ↑ Haas, Oscar. "Neighborsville". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  3. ↑ Palmquist, Peter E; Kailbourn, Thomas R (2005). Pioneer Photographers from the Mississippi to the Continental Divide: A Biographical Dictionary, 1839–1865. Stanford University Press. pp. 345, 346. ISBN 978-0-8047-4057-9.
  4. ↑ McGuire, James Patrick. "Carl G. von Iwonski". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  5. ↑ Wagner, Frank. "William DeRyee". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  6. ↑ Ratcliff, Sam DeShong (1992). Painting Texas History to 1900. University of Texas Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-292-78113-9.

Further reading

  • James Patrick McGuire, Iwonski in Texas: Painter and Citizen, San Antonio Museum Association, San Antonio, 1976
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