Louis Maurer

Who was Louis Maurer?

Louis Maurer was a German-born American lithographer, and the father of the American painter Alfred Henry Maurer. Louis Maurer was also the last surviving artist to have been employed by Currier and Ives. He was extensively interviewed about the Currier and Ives firm by research and connoisseur Peter Twyford in his book Currier & Ives, printmakers to the American people. His archives are located at the American Antiquarian Society.

Born in Biebrich, Germany, Maurer studied anatomy, mechanical drawing, and lithography in Mainz before migrating to the United States in 1851. He married Louisa Stein in 1860, and together they raised three children, Charles, Alfred, and Eugenia.

Maurer began working as a lithographer at the firm of T.W. Strong in 1852. Later the same year he moved to Currier and Ives, working there till 1860. Maurer's series The Life of a Fireman was a popular lithography series produced for Currier and Ives.

During the American Civil War, Maurer worked as a shooting instructor in Palisades Park. He later was a partner in the lithography firm of Heppenheimer & Maurer until his retirement in 1884.