Frederick Catherwood produced artwork depicting views of ancient monuments with great accuracy. Catherwood was an Englishman born in 1799 into an affluent family. His schooling was completed at Oxford University where he studied architecture. However, although he was trained as an architect, his real passion in life was art, particularly portraying ancient cultures. Catherwood was a man who loved to travel, which was a significant influence on his art
At the age of 40, Catherwood accompanied a successful writer named John Lloyd Stephens to Central America. Catherwood was going to illustrate a book that Stephens was writing on the ancient Mayan ruins. What Stephens and Catherwood found on their trip amazed them. They discovered wonderfully majestic but deserted cities. The ruins in these cities were the inspiration of Catherwood 's art. He did this by using a camera lucida (an optic device that preceded the invention of photography) to aid him in his drawings. The artwork that Catherwood produced was vivid and intriguing and became a best seller. His greatest accomplishment was his declaration that the Maya ruins had been built by the native people of that area. Most scholars, artists and visitors did not believe that such grand monuments could have been constructed by the "savages". They believed they were not civilized enough to build such cities. Scholars claimed that the structures had to have been built by Carthaginians, Egyptians or even the Phoenicians, but never the indigenous peoples in the area. But Catherwood had traveled widely and seen the monuments Carthaginians, Egyptians and the Phoenicians had built and he proclaimed there were no "architectural similarities" between Middle East monuments and the ones in the Americas.
Central America was not the only place that Catherwood went to get inspiration for his artwork. Before devoting himself to the discovery of the Maya, he disguised himself as a Moslem to explore the Near East. He also documented Robert Hay’s expeditions in Egypt. Later in life, Catherwood became a civil engineer.
Frederick Catherwood died on September 20, 1854. While sailing from Liverpool to the United States, the steamship he was on, the Artic, was rammed by a French vessel, the Vesta. Catherwood was among the many people who died. Catherwood’s art continues to be admired even today as it beautifully portrays the mysteries of ancient cultures. Three of the books written about Catherwood are F. Catherwood 1799-1854 - Architect-Explorer of Two Worlds (1946), Frederick Catherwood, Architect (1950), and Search for the Maya: The Story of Stephens and Catherwood (1973). "Casa Frederick Catherwood" was opened in 2007 in Merida, Yucatan. Twenty-five of his lithographs from "Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan" are on permanent exhibition there. Some of his incredible artwork can be viewed at http://nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Frederick-Catherwood
http://nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Frederick-Catherwood
Former link, www.ukans.edu/~hoopes/506/Explorers.htm (2006)
Former link, www.primarysource.org/Web%20Work/prototype/frames/publications/maya.html (2006)
www.users.rcn.com/leandrok/Pages/Catherwood.html
Former link, www.northcoast.com/~spdtom/a-cod4.html (2006)
Written by: Nicole Thompson
Edited by: Lillian Dolentz, 2009