Peter f rothermel biography sample

American painter

For his son, the lawyer and politician, see P. Frederick Rothermel.

Peter Frederick Rothermel (July 8, 1812 – August 15, 1895) was an American painter.

Biography

Rothermel was born in Nescopeck, Pennsylvania on July 8, 1812, although various sources give his birth year as 1813, 1814, and 1817.^[1] The artist's gravestone in Philadelphia gives the date as 1812.^[2] He had a common-school education, and studied land surveying.^[3] At age 20, he moved to Philadelphia and became a sign painter.^[4] Then at age 22, he took up the study of art.

He was instructed in drawing by John Rubens Smith, and subsequently became a pupil of Bass Otis in Philadelphia.^[3]

His 1844 work De Soto discovering the Mississippi was purchased by the Art Union and marked his first success as an artist.^[4] He served as vice president of the Artists' Fund Society in 1844 and as director of the Pennsylvania A