German artist Paul Wilhelmi, Battle of Shiloh print.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
In today's mail I received 19 older military prints. I purchased these because they were published by Perrien-Keydel Co. of Detroit and I have a soft sot for local Civil War art work. Paul Wilhelmi was a German artist who was hired to come to America and pain some cycloramas. He also painted cycloramas in Australia. It seems probably that Perrien-Keydel Co. had him do a couple Civil War paintings for them. Wilhelmi died in Detroit.

These are a bit lacking in fine art, but one can see the cyclorama type style in them.
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Another Wilhelmi print.
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... The chicken - or the egg? Pretty obviously the similarities between Whilhelmi's prints and those of Swedish artist Thure de Thulstrup printed by the Louis Prang Company are more than a bit coincidental.

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... The chicken - or the egg? Pretty obviously the similarities between Whilhelmi's prints and those of Swedish artist Thure de Thulstrup printed by the Louis Prang Company are more than a bit coincidental.

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There are some similarities for sure. In the end I am happy that I purchased the prints by Paul Wilhelmi. Being a Michigander I like the prints coming from Detroit.
 
There are some similarities for sure. In the end I am happy that I purchased the prints by Paul Wilhelmi. Being a Michigander I like the prints coming from Detroit.
I've seen these Wilhelmi prints before, but to me his style seems definitely inferior to Thulstrup's and seeing the two together makes him look like a plagiarist.
 
... The chicken - or the egg? Pretty obviously the similarities between Whilhelmi's prints and those of Swedish artist Thure de Thulstrup printed by the Louis Prang Company are more than a bit coincidental.
I thought they looked familiar. I would have sworn Wilhelmi had been commissioned to illustrate a children’s book if I didn’t know anything else.
 
I thought they looked familiar. I would have sworn Wilhelmi had been commissioned to illustrate a children’s book if I didn’t know anything else.
Those prints are pretty obviously bookplates, so maybe he was, and the art is more appropriate to juvenile or children's books.
 
I like Wilhelmi's prints a lot, mainly because he gives just enough detail not to be distracted by so many different variables. Sure the two shown by Thulstrup bear more clarity, but to gaze upon a print that is pleasing with it's softer tones, to me Wilhelmi has done a very good job. Plus the back view of men filing through a break in abatis is truly a gem. And the color bearer getting shot is more realistic than the man charging nearby.
Lubliner.
 
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... The chicken - or the egg? Pretty obviously the similarities between Whilhelmi's prints and those of Swedish artist Thure de Thulstrup printed by the Louis Prang Company are more than a bit coincidental.

View attachment 390678

I've also long been a fan of de Thulstrap's illustrations and have his Antietam and Shiloh lithographs on my wall (below).

Have you ever noticed that many of the 58 MM figures in Marx Blue & Gray Civil War battle sets from the early 1960s were taken directly from de Thulstrap prints?

CW Art Wall.jpg


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