Joseph Scheuerle

Joseph Scheuerle (March 15, 1873 – March 25, 1948) was an American painter and illustrator best known for his portraits of Native Americans.

Early life and education Scheuerle was born in Vienna, Austria. His family immigrated to the United States in 1882 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents enrolled him at a local school, but when the teachers found out that he spoke no English, they had him sit in the back, leaving him free to draw. Scheuerle attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati where he studied under Joseph Henry Sharp and Henry Farny.

Artistic career Scheuerle graduated in 1896 and found work drawing circus and Wild West posters for the Strobridge Lithographing Company. He moved to Chicago in 1900 where he continued his work as an illustrator. In 1904, he married his wife, Carolyn Lohrey. They couple had one daughter, Margaret, born in July 1906. During this period of his life, the artist began to meet and to paint portraits of Native American performers who traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. His portraits were, in his words, "all finished and done honestly and carefully from life and on the spot."

In the summer of 1909, Scheuerle traveled west to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He painted portraits of several Sioux people, including the Lakota leader Red Cloud, who was nearly ninety years old at the time. and hosted major exhibitions of his work in 1973, 2008, and 2018. In 2000, the Cincinnati Art Galleries displayed an exhibition titled Joseph Scheuerle and His Indian Art Gallery.

A resident of South Orange, New Jersey, he died at his home there on March 25, 1948, at the age of 75.