Ernest Hüpeden, WIThe Painted Forestc. 1850/60–1911 
(left to right) Ernest Hüpeden, untitled (six-panel painted cabinet, detail), c. 1880-1900; wood, paint, metal; Ernest Hüpeden, Modern Woodmen of America Lodge #6190 (site detail, The Painted Forest, Valton, WI), photo: David Umberger.; Ernest Hüpeden, Modern Woodmen of America Lodge #6190 (site detail, The Painted Forest (stage curtain), Valton, WI), photo: David Umberger.
In 1878, Ernest Hüpeden (c. 1850-1911) arrived in the United States from Germany, bringing with him little more than a set of paints he had received as a gift. He worked all over the United States as an itinerant painter, carrying stacks of white paperboard and piles of magazine images from which he created pictures in exchange for room and board. A job in Valton, Wisconsin, was his masterwork: a series of murals now known as "The Painted Forest," produced in and for the Modern Woodmen of America's Lodge #6190. Hüpeden was initially hired to paint just the stage curtain, but the Woodmen were so pleased with the painted scene that they invited him to stay on and undertake the interior of the entire lodge. Hüpeden proceeded to depict a pine forest inspired by the landscape surrounding the lodge. His murals became populated by figures illustrating the rites and themes of the organization and grew to cover every inch of the lodge's walls and ceiling. Related Links
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