On to Liberty

Theodor Kaufmann

1867 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

Before coming to the United States in 1850, the German-born Kaufmann studied painting in Düsseldorf and Munich and fought in the 1848 popular uprisings in favor of German national unity. As a Union soldier in the American Civil War, he may have seen Confederate troops retreating with enslaved men, leaving behind women and children. Here, his portrayal of a group of fleeing figures indicates the lack of a clear route to liberty. Recent scholarship suggests that Kaufmann’s scene may have been inspired by a different cultural narrative—an 1859 work, produced in Brazil, by the French painter, Francois-Auguste Biard.

Artist

Theodor Kaufmann

Date

1867

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of Erving and Joyce Wolf, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1982