Louisa Wueste, a portrait painter born in Germany, became a pioneer for women artists in Texas and the Southwest in the mid-1800s. From her San Antonio studio, Wueste created many works, including portraits whose subjects dress and mannerisms reveal much about early Texans and their culture.
Wueste began receiving art commissions after the Civil War, which she spent living in Mexico, and her work has never been catalogued. Most of it is owned by family members and private collectors, but the largest public collection of her works resides here, at the Witte. Also at the Witte are works by German Texan painters Hermann Lungkwitz and Carl von Iwonski.