Eliana G

A Portrait of Justus von Liebig

Eliana Goldman

Yarmouth High School, Grade 10

Justus von Liebig was a scientist who lived from 1803 to 1873. He was born in Darmstadt Germany and was the son of a man who made pigments for paints. From a young age Justus demonstrated a remarkable interest in chemistry. Liebig lived through a large famine that happened as the result of a lack of crops. Many historians believe that this influenced his work in agriculture later. During his lifetime, he made enormous contributions to biochemistry and agriculture. Liebig is known today as the father of organic chemistry. I was drawn to his story because I have a large interest in science and biochemistry and I wanted to learn more about someone who had made so many admirable advancements in the field. Learning about Justus von Liebig inspires me to learn more about how the world works. 

I became interested in Justus von Liebig for our common interest in science and agriculture. This past semester I have been working on an extended learning opportunity that studies the growth of food in different agricultural systems. So, when I saw Liebigs description I was very excited to learn about someone whose successes overlapped so much with my interests. As I learned more about him I realized just how much he contributed to science and the world. His work with fertilizer helped farmers around the world have more consistent harvests which both helped the economy and put food on the table for many families. 

My artwork depicts a normal farm landscape with Liebig’s work and formulas embedded in it. The painting is meant to symbolize that Liebig’s work can be seen in everything today. Liebig not only paved the way for organic chemistry but for modern agriculture as well. My painting has the bohr model of nitrogen hidden all over a farm landscape to depict the work Leibig did with hydrogen as well as the chemical makeup of the natural landscape to demonstrate the fact that Leibig was one of the first scientists to pioneer biochemistry as well as organic chemistry. There is a subtle portrait of Justus von Leibig in the sky in order to show his presence overseeing what he devoted his life to. 

Creating this artwork taught me a lot of different acrylic painting techniques. I learned the importance of underpainting and how to paint a landscape through layering different coats of paint getting more detailed as I go along. During this unit we learned many techniques like dry brushing which you can see in the clouds in this painting as well as the importance of color blocking before adding detail which helped me paint more easily with more vibrant colors. I really appreciate that our learning focused more on learning how to focus on the entire painting opposed to only small details which is what I’m normally inclined to do.   While creating this painting I really started to appreciate the art of painting as well as the field of science which enables me to do everything I need in my daily life.

I will share my artwork and experience with my community by presenting my work at Merrill Memorial library with my fellow classmates. This is an amazing opportunity because I get to present my art to the public in the form of an art show. This is truly a one of a kind opportunity. I hope to share my art with my community in the future and continue to tell the stories of unsung heroes.