Antonio Zeno Shindler
American, 1823-1899
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Antonio Zeno Shindler was a photographer and artist for the Smithsonian Institution and benefactor of William Blackmore during the second half of the 20th century. Though the facts of his young life are highly speculative, he was probably born Antonio (or Antonion) Zeno in Bulgaria or Romania. He adopted the name Shindler from a patron in Geneva, Switzerland, with whom he moved to and lived with in Paris, where he studied art. While it is uncertain exactly when Shindler first arrived in the United States, he is listed in an 1852 directory for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as working as a drawing instructor.
From then until 1863, he exhibited his artwork in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1867, Shindler moved with his family and his brother-in-law's family to Washington, DC. In Washington, Shindler took propriotorship of the Addis Photographic Gallery, where he worked under the name Shindler and Company with his brother-in-law. Shindler was commissioned by English philanthropist William Henry Blackmore and the Smithsonian to make copies of Blackmore's collection of photographs, create a catalog for their exhibition, and photograph delegations of American Indians visiting Washington. The Blackmore project was completed circa 1872 and Shindler continued to work for the Smithsonian as an artist until his death in July 1899.