(b New York, 26 Feb 1836; d Rome, 29 Jan
1923).
American painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer. He
studied under Tompkins Harrison Matteson in Shelbourne, NY,
and went to Paris in March 1856. After eight months in the
studio of François-Edouard Picot, he settled in Florence
until the end of 1860. There he learnt drawing from
Raffaello Bonaiuti, became interested in the Florentine
Renaissance and attended the free Accademia Galli. A more
significant artistic inspiration came from the Italian
artists at the Caffè Michelangiolo: Telemaco Signorini,
Vincenzo Cabianca (1827–1902) and especially Nino Costa
(1827–1902). This group sought new and untraditional
pictorial solutions for their compositions and plein-air
landscapes and were particularly interested in the
experiences of Gustave Courbet and the Barbizon painters.
They became known as Macchiaioli for their use of splashes (macchia)
of light and shadows and for their revolutionary (maquis)
attitude to prevailing styles. Among Vedder’s most notable
Florentine landscapes are Mugnone Torrent near Fiesole
(Detroit, MI, Inst. A.) and Le Balze, Volterra
(Washington, DC, N. Mus. Amer. A.); he also made many
sketches, drawings and pastels of the Tyrrhenian coast, Lake
Trasimene, the Roman Campagna, Egypt and Capri, which
exemplify the realistic approach to landscape practised by
the artists of the Macchiaioli.
