Christian Schussele (born 16 April 1824 in Guebwiller, Alsace – 20 August 1879 in Merchantville, New Jersey) was an artist. He studied under Adolphe Yvon and Paul Delaroche 1842-1848 and then came to the United States. Here, for some time, he worked at chromolithography which he had also pursued in France. Later he devoted himself almost entirely to painting.
His “Men of Progress” (1857) featured a group portrait of nineteen American inventors and innovators. While all those portrayed were still alive, they had never met as a group but were composed from existing individual portraits.[1] It is now housed in Cooper Union, New York City;
His other best known works are “Clear the Track” (1851); “Franklin before the Lords in Council” (1856); “Zeisberger preaching to the Indians” (1859); “The Iron-Worker and King Solomon” (1860); “Washington at Valley Forge” (1862); and “Home on Furlough” and “McClellan at Antietam” (1863). About 1863, he was attacked by palsy in the right hand. In 1865, he went abroad and underwent severe treatment with no apparent benefit. On his return, in 1868, he was elected to fill the chair, then founded, of drawing and painting in the Pennsylvania Academy, which he held until his death. During this period he produced “Queen Esther denouncing Haman,” owned by the Academy (1869), and “The Alsatian Fair” (1870). Most of the paintings that have been named became widely known through large prints by John Sartain and other engravers.
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| Name |
Schussele, Christian |
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| Short description |
American artist |
| Date of birth |
16 April 1824 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
20 August 1879 |
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Wilson, James Grant; Fiske, John, eds. (1900). "Schussele, Christian". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton