German painters
All German Painters represent Art in their country as it evolved through the centuries. The following is a chronological list of German artists, his biography and creative life. .
Alexander Koester (1864-1932) - German, specialized in painting ducks
Born: 10 February 1864; Bergneustadt, Germany
Died: 10 December 1932; Munich, Germany Field: painting Nationality: German Education: Karlsruher Akademie Art Movement: Realism Genre: wildlife painting The representation of ducks is synonymous with the German painter Alexander Koester, a subject that occupied him for most of his working life... Alexander Koester (along with Heinrich von Zugel) was one of the most important Impressionist animal painters from the Munich School. His early pictures were genre scenes of Tyrolian folk life and landscapes, later specializing in painting ducks, which would establish his reputation. Like the Impressionists, Koester was intrigued by the fleeting play of light on water and leaves. The rhythmical qualities of his duck paintings, in which the birds move in gracious formation, give these pictures an almost musical quality, which is perhaps no coincidence, given that Koester was an accomplished violinist and collector of violins. The present work, in which the ducks move serenely through the water, might be compared in musical terms to the calm of an adagio. After the war, Koester settled in Diessen on the Ammerseee. During this period he concentrated on still life paintings, but never abandoned the duck images completely. |
Leopold Schmutzler (1864-1941) - German, specialized in portraits and semi-erotic female figures
Born: 29 March 1864; Stříbro, Bohemia, Cehia
Died: 20 June 1941; Munich, Germany Field: painting Nationality: German Education: Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna Art Movement: Romanticism, Rococo Genre: portrait He was the son of a saddler and innkeeper, who also gave him his first drawing lessons. From 1880 to 1882, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna with Christian Griepenkerl (ironically, the person who later rejected Hitler's application to the Academy). After that, he transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich and studied with Otto Seitz. He settled there after his graduation in 1885. He also spent brief study periods in Rome and Paris. By the turn of the century, he had become one of the busiest portrait painters in Munich. He received important commissions from the Bavarian Royal Family. His association with the Nazi regime virtually destroyed his career outside Germany, and his posthumous reputation, although his works may still be seen at several museums, including the Frye Art Museum in Seattle whose founder, Charles Frye (1858-1940), was a great admirer of Schmutzler's pre-Nazi work. |