2018.035.006 [Painting]

Artist: Joseph Walter Title: Lansing, Iowa Medium: Watercolor on paper Date: 1930 Credit Line: Dubuque Museum of Art. Gift of James S. and Marcia Christensen, in memory of parents Stanley T. & Gladys M. Christensen (Roberts) and her sister Lillian Roberts, a close friend of the Walter family. Description: Joseph Walter was born on July 5, 1865 and grew up in Landeck, Tyrol, Austria. Originally a portrait and landscape artist, Walter studied at the Vienna Academy of Applied Art and the Munich Royal Academy in the late nineteenth century. Around 1900, Walter immigrated to the United States and settled in Dubuque, Iowa, where he would remain for the rest of his life. Although for most of his life Walter made a living painting churches and portraits, his real love was in painting landscapes. While speaking about how he made a living, he said, “I decorated churches—that was for bread; I make pictures—that is for myself,” (Telegraph Herald, December 4, 1938). When Walter painted his landscapes, his touch with the watercolor sketches was light and precise. His use of color, though lightly faded now, was realistic and carefully rendered. An earlier article from the Telegraph Herald on March 5, 1933 estimated that Walter had produced, up to that point, 400 to 500 paintings in and around Dubuque. Content can be used with the following standards: 3rd grade SS 3.28 Cultural Contributions in a lesson on art culture and Iowan artists. For any use other than instructional resources, please check with the organization that owns this item regarding copyright restrictions.