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Show 80 Maximilian returned to Europe. During the expedition, Bodmer constantly sketched and painted the surrounding countryside through which he passed. The picturesque landscape he saw on the eastern segment of the expedition was not dissimilar to that of Switzerland, where Bodmer had first learned to paint. This was a countryside civilized, cultivated, and familiar to Bodmer. On this segment of the expedition Bodmer was not challenged; conventional interpretation was enough and the resulting artistic views were pretty, precise, and predictable.1 However, when the expedition moved farther west, Bodmer was confronted by surroundings totally unfamiliar-vast open plains, bizarre geological formations, unknown flora and fauna, all suffused with a quality of light not found either on America's east coast or in Europe. Bodmer had been trained as an etcher, as well as a watercolorist; his paintings had reflected the careful and minute detail required for etching romantic, conventional views of the Rhine and Mosel valleys of Germany. It was highly unlikely that such a background would prepare Bodmer to capture on paper the new and disturbing vistas of the American frontier. But Bodmer's solution for painting this wild and expansive landscape was no less than brilliant. The very detail and small scale that had made the nostalgic and romantic landscapes of the eastern segment of the expedition seem conventional and uninspiring were now used to capture the vast march of nature to the distant horizons. As the travelers began their journey up the Missouri river, Bodmer sketched and painted the rolling hills and stands of forest which stretched off into the far distance. At first glance these paintings |