Ferdinand Bellermann is considered as being one of the 19th-century’s so-called “traveling artists”, who visited Latin America for study purposes in the wake of Alexander von Humboldt. A travel grant from Prussian King Frederick William IV made it possible for the painter to get to know the landscape and inhabitants of Venezuela from 1842 to 1847. His portrayals of the tropics are among his most well-known paintings, making him famous during his own lifetime with the nickname “jungle painter”. Only rarely do we find figural scenes of the local population.
The focus of his “jungle landscapes” lies in the detailed reproduction of the tropical Venezuelan scenery. The indigenous inhabitants appear rather incidentally as accessory figures, most likely included merely to enhance the “exotic” character of the landscapes.
In his journal, the artist describes various encounters with the indigenous population. Sometimes, he met people by chance during his excursions, and in some instances, he also hired them as travel guides. In all of this, the conditions that brought about his observations remain obscure.
