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Chapter TwoDüsseldorf to Munich, Keith’sEarly MaturityKeith left San Francisco in early September of 1869 “to perfecthis knowledge of art” 101 by visiting New York and Paris andstudying in Düsseldorf. In October he was in Maine “studyingthe beautiful autumnal effects, before offering any work inNew York or going to Europe.” 102 The Keiths, with son, Charlie,and their daughter Mary Hortense (“Tennie”), born in 1868, werevisiting with Lizzie Emerson Keith’s family in Damariscotta. Theexact date of the departure for Düsseldorf is not known, but theywere definitely settled in that city by February of 1870. 103By 1870, Düsseldorf was fading as the leading art city in Europe.In its heyday, the 1850s, Emmanuel Leutze had presided overthe American art colony there, where such talented young paintersas Albert Bierstadt, Worthington Whittredge and Sanford R.Gifford had come to study. Keith was probably mindful of thecentral role Düsseldorf had played in the training of these artists,and his friend, Charles Nahl, must have urged him to studythere. Also, the Düsseldorf Gallery had been a celebrated partof the New York art world when Keith was growing up in thatcity.Typical Düsseldorf-style paintings feature meticulous, detailedimages with a high degree of “finish,” paint very thinly applied101 “Local Art Items,” San Francisco Bulletin, Sept. 10, 1869, p. 3.102 “Local Art Items,” San Francisco Bulletin, Oct. 12, 1869, p. 3.103 Tennie Keith was born on January 4, 1868, according to entry dated “May 11,1934” in “Brother Fidelis Cornelius Braeg, F.S.C. Collection Detail Sample ofCorrespondence Content,” Saint Mary’s College, Moraga, CA, p. 21. ForKeith’s presence in Düsseldorf, see “Art Matters,” San Francisco Chronicle,Feb. 17, 1870, p. 3.Anonymous, Portrait of William Keith, 1870s, printed 1945, photograph, 6 ⅛ x 4 ¼inches. Collection of the Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary’s College of California.Gift of Brother F. Cornelius Braeg, F.S.C. 95.19.22