Artist Biography

Hugo W. NAHL
1833 - 1889

Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl (1833-1889) was born in Kassel, Germany in 1883 into a long line of artists. Arthur studied art with his half-brother Charles and at the Kassel Academy. In 1846 the two brothers moved to Paris where they studied with Vernet and Delaroche. Caught up in the French Revolution, they immigrated to New York City in 1849 and two years later sailed for California in search of gold. The brothers worked for a few months in the gold fields, but soon abandoned mining for an art studio in Sacramento. The great fire of 1852 burned most of the city as well as their studio. They then settled in San Francisco where Arthur worked with his brother as a commercial artist, portrait painter, engraver, and daguerreotyper. His commercial work included re-designing the California state seal. The Nahl brothers were fine athletes; the gymnasium in their backyard was the crude beginnings of the Olympic Club and served as its headquarters from 1855-60. After his marriage in 1865 to Annie Sweeney, Arthur moved across the bay to Alameda where he remained. He died on the ferry en route to his home on April 1, 1889. Equally facile in oil, watercolor, charcoal, and crayon, his subjects include portraits, landscapes, animal and genre scenes. Exhibited: San Francisco Art Ass'n; California State Fair, 1888 (medal); California Midwinter International Expo, 1894. Works held: Oakland Museum; California Historical Society

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