Karl Buesgen

Who was Karl Buesgen?

Karl Henry Buesgen, Sr. was an American landscape painter and Pennsylvania impressionist typically associated with the Baum Circle, a group of artists either taught by, associated with, or directly influenced by Pennsylvania impressionist painter Walter Emerson Baum.

Buesgen was born on Christmas Day, 1916 in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. He was the only surviving son of Joseph Herman and Katherine Buesgen, both second generation German immigrants who worked in Allentown's silk and textile mills. As a young man, Buesgen studied to become a musician, and trained in piano, organ and voice. His family was involved with Allentown's Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, and he soon became a student of that church's organist and choirmaster, John Birmelin. When Birmelin retired in 1950, Buesgen was given Birmelin's post - a position he would hold for the remainder of his life. Buesgen also actively worked as a piano, organ and voice teacher in Allentown, and served as organist and choirmaster for a number of local churches.

Buesgen was a dedicated student of painting, and studied with both Walter Emerson Baum and John E. Berninger. Like most impressionist painters, Buesgen painted landscapes en plein air or from colored slides of photographs he took with his camera.