Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl

Arthur Nahl (1 September 1833 – 1 April 1889) was a German-born artist, daguerreotyper, engraver, portraitist, and landscape painter. Nahl was a painter known for his American Old West paintings of California. He was considered one of California's finest engravers, and was ranked amongst the best gymnasts in California for his time.

Early life He was the son of Henriette (Weickh) Nahl (1796–1863). Henriette and her first husband, Georg Valentin Friedrich Nahl, had one son, the American West painter Charles Christian Nahl (1818–1878). Henriette and Georg divorced in 1826. In that year, she began a relationship with Georg's cousin, Alexander Theodor Nahl. After growing tired of him, she began a relationship with Alexander's brother, Wilhelm Nahl. While Wilhelm was Hugo's biological parent, he considered Alexander to be his father. Henriette and Wilhelm had one other child, a daughter, Laura.

Nahl was descended from a family of German artists dating to the 17th century. He received his first gold medal at age 16.

Career Nahl worked in charcoal, crayon, oil, and watercolor. His subjects included animals, landscapes, portraits, and genre works. The Nahl brothers worked as commercial artists, daguerreotypers, engravers, and portrait painters. They became San Francisco's leading lithographers and specialized in souvenir stationery. They created many wood carvings from photograph images. With his brother and William Dieckmann, Nahl formed the partnership of Nahl Brothers and Dieckmann in 1867, an art and photograph gallery at 121 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.

When Isaiah West Taber bought out the Nahl's photography department, Nahl worked for him, coloring and retouching the photographs. Nahl collaborated with others, including Bret Harte, on the cover design of Overland Monthly.

His exhibitions included: American Art Union San Francisco Art Association California Exposition & State Fair, 1888 (medal) California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894

Nahl's art works are held at the Oakland Museum and the California Historical Society.

Personal life The Nahl brothers were fine athletes. At their home in San Francisco's Bush Street, their backyard gymnasium served as the early version of the Olympic Club and was its headquarters during the period of 1855 to 1860.

Nahl married Annie Sweeney in 1865 and they moved to Alameda. One of Nahl's sons, Perham Wilhelm Nahl (1869–1935), became an artist and art professor at the University of California, and founder of the California College of Arts and Crafts. Another son, Virgil Theodore Nahl (1876–1930), went to work as a staff artist for the San Francisco Examiner.

Partial bibliography Nahl, A., & Nahl, C. C. (1863). Instructions in gymnastics by Arthur and Charles Nahl: Illustrated with 53 plates, containing several hundred figures. San Fran: A. Rosenfield.

Selected gallery