People: Peter Bernhard Wilhelm Heine
Frederic Trautmann, translator of Heine's memoir With Perry to Japan, summarized the life of Heine concisely when he wrote "[he] was an artist and illustrator, a teacher of painting in Europe and the United States, a consular aide in Central America, and an author." Peter Bernhard Wilhelm Heine was born on January 30, 1827 in Dresden, Germany. Heine studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Dresden and in the studio of Julius Hübner. He extended his artistic studies with three years in Paris. After returning to Dresden he worked as a scene designer for the court theater and gave painting classes. But Europe was politically unstable; there were riots in Berlin and general uprisings by the middle class across Germany and so, in 1849, Heine immigrated to the United States.
In New York, Heine kept a studio at 515 Broadway, teaching art, illustrating books, and painting. Within a year, Heine had gained distinction as a landscape painter and his artistic mastery of landscape painting helped when he pursued a career with the U.S. Army. Around 1850, Heine met the archaeologist and diplomat, Ephraim George Squier. Squier invited Heine to accompany him, as an artist, on his consul duties to Central America. Heine went ahead of Squier, and collected and recorded indigenous plants and animals and compiled notes for a future book. Until Squier arrived, Heine stood in as consul and negotiated a commercial agreement between the Central American countries and the United States, which he delivered to Washington.
While in Washington, Heine heard of the possibility of an expedition to Japan. According to Trautmann, Heine very much wanted to sail around the world and to see Asia. He met with both President Fillmore and Commodore Perry and, in September 1852, left New York harbor with Perry in the Mississippi.
In the official narrative there are numerous references to Heine's work, with the record often noting, "Mr. Heine made a drawing of it." Heine did much more than a drawing, however, as Trautmann believed that Heine's "greatest service to America" were the hundreds of sketches, landscapes, portraits, and watercolors he produced during the Japan Expedition. Returning to the United States, Heine published his own accounts of the expedition, Die Expedition in die Seen von China, Japan, and Ochotsk and Graphic Scenes of Japan, in English, German, Dutch, and French. He also lectured both in the United States and Europe. Trautmann credited Heine's art as helping begin the craze for Japanoise that swept the U.S. after the expedition's return, resulting in the popularity of Japanese art, furniture, pottery, and architecture. Heine exhibited his works at the Washington Art Association between 1857 and 1859.
In 1862, Heine already enlisted in the Army, was assigned to the First Maryland Infantry. He spent his time surveying and mapping. Unfortunately, Heine was soon arrested and accused of revealing too much information of the Union defense in his drawings. He was honorably discharged however as "unfit for service." Several years later, he rejoined the army as colonel and held three different commands. In 1865, he was made a brigadier general. His success was short-lived for the Army again accused him of disobedience. After a short stint as a U.S. clerk to the Paris and Liverpool consulates, he returned to Germany where he died in 1885.