Carl von Marr (February 14, 1858 – July 10, 1936) was an American-born German painter whose work encompassed religious and mythological subjects,

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

, and portraits. He was also a professor of art in Munich.

Biography

He was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, the son of the engraver John Marr (1831–1921) and his wife Bertha Bodenstein Marr (1836–1911). He was a pupil of Henry Vianden in Milwaukee, of Martin Schauß in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, of

Karl Gussow Karl Gussow (25 February 1843, Havelberg – 27 March 1907, Munich) was a German painter and university professor. Life and work His early inclination to art was encouraged by his family so, as soon as he completed his secondary schooling, he wa ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, and subsequently of Otto Seitz at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. His first work, ''Ahasuerus, the Wandering Jew'', received a medal in Munich. One of his pictures, ''Episode of 1813'', was (as of 1911) in the Royal

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Gallery. His ''Germany'' in 1906 received a gold medal in Munich, and was (as of 1911) in the Prussian Royal Academy at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

. A large canvas, ''The Flagellants,'' painted in 1889, is now in the collection of the

Museum of Wisconsin Art The Museum of Wisconsin Art (formerly the West Bend Art Museum) is a museum that collects and exhibits contemporary and historical art from the state of Wisconsin. Its collections include rotating historical and contemporary exhibitions and educati ...

, in

West Bend, Wisconsin West Bend is the county seat of Washington County, Wisconsin, Washington County, Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,752. History Early history and settlement Northeastern Washington County's earliest known inhabitants wer ...

, on permanent loan from the City of Milwaukee.Museum of Wisconsin Art
/ref> It received a gold medal at the Munich Exposition in 1889, a gold medal at the International Exhibition, Berlin in 1890 and a gold medal at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Another canvas, ''Summer Afternoon'', originally from the Phoebe Hearst collection, in 1911 in the permanent collection of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, received a gold medal in Berlin, in 1892. Marr became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1893, and in 1895 a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1916 Marr married Elsie Fellerer Messerschmitt (1872–1919), the widow of the painter

Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt (30 May 1858, in Bamberg – 29 October 1915, in Munich) was a German painter, illustrator and watercolorist; noted for genre and historical scenes, most of which include horses. Biography He came from a family of ...

(1858–1915). They had two daughters together.Lidtke, Thomas D. 1986 ''Carl von Marr: American-German Artist.'' Exhibition catalogue. West Bend, WI: West Bend Art Museum. In 1917, Marr was appointed a privy councilor to the Bavarian government. He was forced to flee to Switzerland during the

Bavarian Council Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...

, which put a price on his head because of this political connection. In 1919, Marr became the director of the Royal Academy in Munich, where he continued to work until his retirement in 1923. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1934. Marr died on 10 July 1936 and is buried at the Solln Cemetery in Munich.

References

External links

Essay on Carl von Marr

Museum of Wisconsin Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marr, Carl Von 1858 births 1936 deaths Artists from Milwaukee Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 19th-century German painters German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists American emigrants 19th-century German male artists Immigrants to the German Empire