Adolph Menzel
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 18159 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings,
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...
s, and paintings. Along with
Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscape ...
, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of the 19th century,Fried, 11 and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany.Eisler, 559–565 First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel. His popularity in his native country, owing especially to his
history paintings History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
, was such that few of his major paintings left Germany, as many were quickly acquired by museums in Berlin.Eisler, 559 Menzel's graphic work (and especially his drawings) were more widely disseminated; these, along with informal paintings not initially intended for display, have largely accounted for his posthumous reputation.Eisler, 559–565 Although he traveled in order to find subjects for his art, to visit exhibitions, and to meet with other artists, Menzel spent most of his life in Berlin, and was, despite numerous friendships, by his own admission detached from others.Menzel wrote in his last will and testament: "Not only have I remained unmarried, throughout my life I have also renounced all relations with the other sex....In short, there is a lack of any kind of self-made bond between me and the outside world." Fried, 5 It is likely that he felt socially estranged for physical reasons alone—he had a large head, and stood about four foot six inches.


Biography


Career

Menzel was born to German parents in Breslau,
Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...
(now
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
), on 8 December 1815. His father was a lithographer and intended to educate his son as a professor, but did not thwart his taste for art. After resigning his teaching post, Menzel senior set up a lithographic workshop in 1818. In 1830 the family moved to Berlin, and in 1832 Adolph was forced to take over the lithographic business on the death of his father. In 1833, he studied briefly at the
Berlin Academy of Art The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
, where he drew from plaster casts and ancient sculptures; thereafter Menzel was self-taught. of Berlin published his first work in 1833, an album of pen-and-ink drawings reproduced on stone, to illustrate
Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's little poem, ''Kunstlers Erdenwallen''. He executed
lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
s in the same manner to illustrate ''Denkwürdigkeiten aus der brandenburgisch-preussischen Geschichte''; ''The Five Senses'' and ''The Prayer'', as well as diplomas for various corporations and societies. From 1839 to 1842, he produced 400 drawings, largely introducing to Germany the technique of
wood-engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...
, to illustrate the ''Geschichte Friedrichs des Grossen'' (''History of
Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
'') by Franz Kugler. He subsequently brought out ''Friedrichs der Grossen Armee in ihrer Uniformirung'' (''The Uniforms of the Army under Frederick the Great''), ''Soldaten Friedrichs der Grossen'' (''The Soldiers of Frederick the Great''); and finally, by order of King
Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...
, he illustrated the works of
Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
, ''Illustrationen zu den Werken Friedrichs des Grossen'' (1843–1849). The artist had a deep sympathy for the Prussian king. In one of his letters to Johann Jakob Weber, he said that it was his intention to represent the monarch as a man who was both hated and admired—simply as he was, in other words, as a man of the people. Through these works, Menzel established his claim to be considered one of the first, if not actually the first, of the illustrators of his day in his own line. Menzel's fame came from his illustrations of the 18th-century Prussian monarch, Frederick the Great. As well as dedication to adding historical accuracy and attention to detail. Menzel also made sure to do research on the items he was painting. From 1840 and onward Menzel became admirable for his small paintings and drawings. In which he depicted his unconventional ideas. In the meantime, Menzel had also begun to study, unaided, the art of painting, and he soon produced a great number and variety of pictures. His paintings consistently demonstrated keen observation and honest workmanship in subjects dealing with the life and achievements of Frederick the Great, and scenes of everyday life, such as ''In the Tuileries'', ''The Ball Supper'', and ''At Confession''. Among those considered most important of these works are ''Iron Rolling Mill'' (1872–1875) and ''The Market-place at
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
''. When invited to paint ''The Coronation of
William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
at Koenigsberg'', he produced an exact representation of the ceremony without regard to the traditions of official painting. During Menzel's life, his paintings were appreciated by
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
and William I, and after his death they were appropriated for use as electoral posters by
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
.Eisler, 559–565 If these historical illustrations anticipated the qualities of early
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
,Eisler, 561 it is paintings such as ''The French Window'' and ''The Palace Garden of Prince Albert'', both painted in the mid- 1840s, that now appeal as "among the most freely observed of mid-nineteenth century images."Eisler, 564 Such
genre paintings Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...
evidence associations with French and
English art English art is the body of visual arts made in England. England has Europe's earliest and northernmost ice-age cave art. Prehistoric art in England largely corresponds with art made elsewhere in contemporary Britain, but early medieval Anglo-Sax ...
. Though he was primarily an excellent draughtsman, art historian
Julius Meier-Graefe , ro, Reșița), Resicabánya Dist., Krassó-Szörény Co, Bánság, Royal Hungary, Imperial and Royal Austria(now Romania) , death_date = , death_place = Vevey, VD, Switzerland , nationality = German, Hungarian German ...
considered him to be a "proto-impressionist" painter, whose graphic work hindered his painterly potentials. Private drawings and watercolors made of dead and dying soldiers in 1866 on the battlefields of the
Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
are unsparing in their realism, and have been described by art historian Marie Ursula Riemann-Reyher as "unique in German art of the time."


Later years

The paintings which were available to the public garnered recognition not only within Germany, but from the French
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
as well:
Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...
admired and copied his work, calling him "the greatest living master", and
Louis Edmond Duranty Louis Edmond Duranty (6 June 1833 – 9 April 1880) was a prolific French novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professi ...
wrote of his art:
In a word, the man is everywhere independent, sincere, with sure vision, a decisive note that can sometimes be a little brutal....While being perfectly healthy he has the ''neurosis'' of truthfulness....The man who has measured with a compass the buttons on a uniform from the time of Frederick, when it is a matter of depicting a modern shoe, waistcoat, or coiffure, does not make them by approximations but totally, in their absolute form and without smallness of means. He puts there everything that is called for by the character (of the object). Free, large, and rapid in his drawing, no draftsman is as ''definitive'' as he.
Notwithstanding Menzel's professed estrangement from others, his renown entailed social obligations, and in the 1880s the poet
Jules Laforgue Jules Laforgue (; 16 August 1860 – 20 August 1887) was a Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symbo ...
described him as "no taller than a cuirassier-guard's boot, bedecked with pendants and orders, not missing a single one of these parties, moving among all these personages like a gnome and like the greatest ''enfant terrible'' for the chronicler."Fried, 9 In Germany he received many honors, and in 1898 became the first painter to be admitted to the
Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...
; by virtue of receiving the Order, Menzel was raised to the nobility, becoming "Adolph von Menzel". He was also made a member of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
in Paris and the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
in London. After his death in 1905 in Berlin, his funeral arrangements were directed by the Kaiser, who walked behind his coffin.Fried, 10


Exhibitions (selection)

"''Adolph Menzel 1815–1905. Das Labyrinth der Wirklichkeit''", Nationalgalerie (National Gallery) and Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings), Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 7 Feb – 11 May 1997 "''Menzel. Maler auf Papier''", Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings), Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 20 September 2019 – 19 January 2020.


World War II

Several important works by Menzel were seized, sold by force or under duress during the Nazi period. Some of these have been restituted in the 21st century. * In 2014, the Menzel's ''Stehende Rüstungen'' (1886) ("Standing Suits of Armour" or "Armoury Fantasy") was restituted by the Albertina Museum in Vienna to the heirs of Adele Pächter, who was murdered at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. * In 2015, the Menzel pastel "Lady with a Red Blouse" was restituted to the heirs of Erna Felicia and
Hans Lachmann-Mosse Hans (John Rudolf) Lachmann-Mosse, ''till 1911'' Hans Lachmann (August 9, 1885, Berlin - April 18, 1944, Oakland, California, US) was a German publisher, director during the Weimar years of the Rudolf Mosse media empire whose titles included the ' ...
.
Oskar Reinhart Oskar Reinhart (11 June 1885 – 16 September 1965) was a Swiss arts patron and art collector, born in Winterthur. His collection now fills two museums, the Kunst Museum Winterthur , Reinhart am Stadtgarten in the centre of Winterthur, and the O ...
had purchased the pastel from the art dealer
Fritz Nathan Fritz Nathan (30 June 1895 in Munich - 28 February 1972 in Zurich) was a German-Swiss gallery owner and art dealer. Early life Fritz Nathan was born as a son from the second marriage of Alexander Nathan; from his father's first marriage he had ...
in Munich in 1934 and donated it to the Foundation in 1940. * Others have been claimed but not restituted. Also in 2015 the Dutch Limbach Commission refused a restitution request for the Menzel painting "A Weekday in Paris" which had belonged to the Jewish banker Georges Behrens. *In 2017 Germany's Culture Minister Monika Gruetter returned Menzel's ''Interior of a Gothic Church'' to the heirs of Elsa Cohen who, persecuted by the Nazis because Jewish, sold it to Hitler's art dealer
Hildebrand Gurlitt Hildebrand Gurlitt (15 September 1895 – 9 November 1956) was a German art historian, art gallery director who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler's and Goering's four authorized dealers for "degenerate art". A Nazi-associated art dealer ...
in 1938. It was rediscovered in the art stash of his son, Cornelius Gurlitt. Th
German Lost Art Foundation
lists numerous Menzel artworks on its website.


Gallery

File:1844 Menzel Falke attackiert Taube anagoria.jpg, '' Falcon Attacking a Pigeon'', 1844 File:Adolph Menzel - Bauplatz mit Weiden - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Building Site with Willows'', 1846 File:Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel 048.jpg, ''Living Room with the Artist's Sister'', 1847 File:1847 Menzel Schlafzimmer Kuenstler Ritterstraße anagoria.JPG, ''The Bedroom of the Artist in the Ritterstraße'', 1847 File:Adolph Menzel - Flötenkonzert Friedrichs des Großen in Sanssouci - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Frederick the Great Playing the Flute at Sanssouci'' , 1852 File:Menzelhochkirch.jpg, ''Frederick II at Hochkirch'', 1856 File:Adolph Menzel - Begegnung mit Kaiser Joseph II in Neiße 1769.jpg, '' The Meeting of Frederick II and Joseph II in Neisse in 1769'', 1857 File:Menzel, Adolph - Studentenfackelzug.jpg, ''Students illuminated procession'', 1859 File:Krönung_1861.JPG, ''Coronation of Wilhelm I'', 1865 File:Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel - Pariser Wochentag - museum kunst palast Düsseldorf.jpg, ''Weekday in Paris'', 1869 File:Menzel, Adolph von - The Studio Wall - 1872.jpg, '' Studio Wall'', 1872 File:MenzelAdolph Ballsouper02.JPG, ''Supper at the Ball'', 1878 File:Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel 026.jpg, '' Fronleichnamsprozession in Hofgastein'', 1880 File:Adolf Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel 031.jpg, ''At the Beer Garden'', 1883 File:Adolph Menzel, Japanese Artist at Work, 1886, NGA 52630.jpg, ''Japanese Artist at Work'', 1886, graphite on paperboard,
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...


Notes


Selected bibliography

* Karl Scheffler, ''Adolf Menzel: Der Mensch, das Werk.'' Berlin: Cassirer, 1915. * Elfried Bock, ''Adolph Menzel: Verzeichnis seines graphischen Werkes''. Berlin: Amsler & Ruthardt, 1923. * Werner Schmidt, ''Adolf Menzel: Zeichnungen Verzeichnis und Erläuterungen''. National-Galerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 1955. * Ulrich Bischoff,
Jens Christian Jensen Jens Christian Jensen (11 May 1928 – 6 April 2013) was a German art historian and curator. Life Born in Lübeck, after the Abitur passed at the Katharineum, Jensen studied art history, classical archaeology, Germanistics and history of Chris ...
, Richard Hoppe-Sailer, Wulf Schadendorf, Johann Schlick, Jürgen Schultze, ''Adolph Menzel: Realist – Historist – Maler des Hofes''. Exhibition catalog. Schweinfurt: Weppert, 1981. * Gisela Hopp, Eckhard Schaar, Werner Hofmann, eds., ''Menzel – der Beobachter''. Exhibition catalog. Munich: Prestel, 1982. * Jost Hermand, ''Adolph Menzel mit Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten'' (''Rowohlts Monographien'', vol. 361). Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1986. * Gisold Lammel, ''Adolph Menzel. Frideriziana und Wilhelmiana''. Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1987. * Claude Keisch and Marie Ursula Riemann-Reyher, eds.: ''Adolph Menzel 1815–1905: Between Romanticism and Impressionism''. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. * Michaela Diener, ''„Ein Fürst der Kunst ist uns gestorben“: Adolph von Menzels Nachruhm im Kaiserlichen Deutschland (1905–1910)''. Regensburg: Roderer, 1998. * Hubertus Kohle, ''Adolph Menzels Friedrichbilder: Theorie und Praxis der Geschichtsmalerei im Berlin der 1850er Jahre''. Munich and Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2001. * Christina Grummt, ''Adolph Menzel – zwischen Kunst und Konvention, die Allegorie in der Adressenkunst des 19. Jahrhunderts''. Berlin: Reimer, 2001. *
Michael Fried Michael Martin Fried (born April 12, 1939 in New York City) is a modernist art critic and art historian. He studied at Princeton University and Harvard University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Merton College, Oxford. He is the J.R. Herbert Boone Pr ...
, ''Menzel's Realism: Art and Embodiment in Nineteenth-Century Berlin''. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. * Jens Christian Jensen, ''Adolph Menzel''. Cologne: DuMont, 2003. * Werner Busch, ''Adolph Menzel: Leben und Werk''. Munich: Beck, 2004. * Bernhard Maaz, ed., ''Adolph Menzel radikal real''. Munich: Hirmer, 2008. * Werner Busch, ''Adolph Menzel: Auf der Suche nach der Wirklichkeit''. Munich: Beck, 2015. * Anja Grebe, ''Menzel, Maler der Moderne''. Berlin: Verlag Eisengold, 2015. * Claudia Czok, "Menzel, Adolph (Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von)", in ''De Gruyter: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker'', vol. 89. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2016, pp. 117–121.


References

* * Eisler, Colin. ''Masterworks in Berlin: A City's Paintings Reunited''. Bulfinch, 1996. * Fried, Michael. ''Menzel's Realism: Art and Embodiment in Nineteenth-Century Berlin''. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. * Keisch, Claude, et al.
Adolph Menzel 1815–1905: Between Romanticism and Impressionism
'. London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996. *


External links


''German masters of the nineteenth century: paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Adolph Menzel (no. 60–64)
''Degas: The Artist's Mind''
exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art fully available online as PDF, which contains material on Adolph Menzel (see index) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menzel, Adolph von German printmakers German male painters German history painters German untitled nobility People from the Province of Silesia Artists from Wrocław German war artists 1815 births 1905 deaths 19th-century war artists Prussian Academy of Arts alumni Burials at Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof I, Berlin Honorary Members of the Royal Academy Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)