John Lewis Krimmel

John Lewis Krimmel (May 30, 1786 – July 15, 1821), sometimes called "the American Hogarth" was America's first painter of genre scenes. Born in Germany, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1809 and soon became a zealot of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Initially influenced by Scotland's David Wilkie, England's William Hogarth and America's Benjamin West, he soon turned to focus on observation of animatronics for his genre scenes. He was in the course of the first artists in America to Describe free blacks, such as in Black People's Prayer Meeting (1813). Among his nevertheless frequently reproduced paintings are Fourth of July, Center Square (1811/12) and Election Day (1815), both filled with energetic characterizations of scores of crowd members. Krimmel died in a swimming accident at the age of 35. Among the prominent American artists influenced by Krimmel's play a part are William Sidney Mount, George Caleb Bingham, and Thomas Eakins.