[Geysers] Yellowstone engravings

[TSBryan at aol.com]

A few days ago I posted a query, then later one of the early  engravings I 
have of Yellowstone thermal features, each of which includes one or  more highly 
exaggerated human figures (they always of ridiculously small scale  per 
reality). Lee Whittlesey, who by the way has no direct knowledge of any of  these 
artists, advised me to contact Peter Hassrick, author of _Drawn to  
Yellowstone_ and employed at the Denver Art Museum. He replied, and while I  still know 
rather little, what I do know is more than before. In summary:
 
E. Riou is no doubt Edouard Riou, better known as a French landscape  
painter, lived 1833 to 1900. We don't know if he ever came to the USA, but most  
likely his drawings were simply based on W. H. Jackson's photos, and  embellished.
 
The artists of "The Great Geyser", the image that shows a huge Crested Pool  
with Castle's cone (a nd a highly imaginative steam plume to the right of the  
cone) was done by one T. Hildebrand. We still know nothing whatsoever about 
him.  He undoubtedly was German, yes, but that's all we know.
 
A last image I have is done in the same fashion as the others, in this case  
showing the cone of Giant Geyser in eruption with a tiny little man running  
hell-bent away from it. (In this case, by extrapolation, Giant's cone must be 
at  least 25 feet tall -- moe, actually, since the poor scared gentleman in 
well  closer to the viewer than is the geyser.) This image appeared in 
_Picturesque  America..._, written and published by William Cullen Bryant in 
(remarkably)  1872. In this case, we do know that the artist was Harry Fenn and that he 
did  base his drawings on Jackson's photos. Fenn apparently has some sort of  
biography in _Who Was Who in American Art, volume 1, by Peter Hastings Falk  
(Sound View Press, 1999) Might anybody have access to that?.. I'll include the  
Giant image here.
 
 
Scott Bryan
 
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