Theobald Reinhold Freiherr von Oer (9 October 1807 – 1885 in Coswig) was a German painter, illustrator and etcher. He is notable for his portraits, genre paintings and historic paintings. He is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

Early life

Theobald von Oer, born at Haus Nottbeck, Stromberg, was the son of a

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

n district administrator. His younger brother Maximilian Joseph Franz of Oer (1806–1846) was a writer. Even in his childhood von Oer liked to paint and to draw, and was talented. At the age of 12, he fell ill with scarlet fever and lost his hearing as well as parts of his speech. Painting by Theobald von Oer

Adult life

At 19, von Oer started with studies at the Royal Academy of Arts Dresden (today the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the produc ...

). He proved himself exceptionally talented and quickly changed to further studies to the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová ...

, under the teaching of W. von Schadow. In 1836, he and architect H. Matthäi travelled together through the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, eventually arriving at Paris, visiting various French artists. In 1837 he travelled through Southern France into the Italian cities Rome,

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has be ...

, and

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to ...

. His main emphasis was the art of painting historical scenes, however, he painted various landscapes and portraits. His journey to Italy also had much influence on his style, notably on his landscapes and portraits. After returning to Germany, he returned to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, becoming a professor at the academy of the arts. The ''Princess Gallitzin with her friends'' from the year 1864, is one of his best known commissioned works. He died in 1885, in Coswig.

References

1. Literature: D. Westhoff, Die Italienreise von Theobald Reinhold von Oer: 1837–1839. 2 vol. Frankfurt on Main, Univ. Master's thesis, 1995. 1807 births 1885 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German landscape painters Barons of the Holy Roman Empire Barons Oer Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni Düsseldorf school of painting {{Germany-painter-stub