First edition. Initially influenced by David Wilkie, William Hogarth and Benjamin West, John Lewis Krimmel was a German immigrant who worked in Philadelphia between 1809 and 1821. Harding traces the development of the artist, who was America's first genre painter, through his sketchbook images and oil paintings. Seven sketchbooks, now in the Winterthur Library, contain about 700 separate drawings and are the key to reconstructing his conceptual processes. They show clear distinctions in subject matter and drawing style commensurate with the stylistic development evident in his paintings. Harding places genre art in an international context by discussing Krimmel's work in terms of larger stylistic trends and defines his use of democratic and moralizing themes within the political and social changes affecting Philadelphia and the Continent. With 113 color plates and 246 black-and-white illustrations. Includes bibliography and index.