Theodor Rudoff Rocholl (1854–1933) was a German military painter and war artist.

Life and work

Rocholl was born in Sachsenberg (Waldeck) on 11 June 1854, the son of , the Lutheran theologian and philosopher. He was a student in Munich in 1877, then at the Dresden Academy. After a year, he moved to Munich where he studied historical painting under

Karl von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fa ...

. He completed his art studies at the Düsseldorf Academy where he developed his interest in military art under the influence of

Wilhelm Camphausen Wilhelm Camphausen (8 February 1818, Düsseldorf16 June 1885, Düsseldorf), was a German Painting, painter who specialized in historical and battle scenes. Biography He studied under Alfred Rethel and Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow. As an historical ...

; his contemporaries in this field were

Carl Röchling Carl Röchling (October 18, 1855 – May 6, 1920) was a German painter and illustrator known for his representation of historical military themes. Life Röchling was born in Saarbrücken, part of the Prussian Rhine Province, son o ...

and

Richard Knötel Richard Knötel (January 12, 1857 – April 26, 1914) was a German artist and pioneer of the study of military uniform. Life Knötel was born in Glogau in 1857. His father, August Knötel, was an art teacher and gave him lessons in drawing and ...

. 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 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Academy (now the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State ...

. He observed the Franco-Prussian War and the subsequent German army manoeuvres between 1883 and 1888; in 1890, he traveled to Russia to view the German Garde-Korps on manoeuvre. Later in the decade, he was attached to the Turkish Army and covered the conflict in

Thessalia Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thess ...

in 1897 between the Turks and the Greeks; his sketches of the fighting were published the following year. He covered the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 as the official artist of the German expeditionary force.Burmeister, Helmut (2000). ''China 1900: der Boxeraufstand der Maler Theodor Rocholl und das "alte China"''. Hofgeismar: Verein für Hessische Geschichte und Landeskunde, Zweigverein Hofgeismar A decade later, he covered the fighting between Turkey and Albania. Many of his paintings depict German military scenes, especially the battles of the Franco-Prussian War. One of his most famous pictures depicted King William at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

, meeting his triumphant soldiers after the victory. Rocholl also painted a large mural for the Evangelischen Padagogiums in

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

. In his 60th year, he became a war artist covering the campaign on the Western Front. His ''War Letters'' printed in 1916 in which he described the fear and destruction. An autobiography of his life as a painter appeared in 1921. He died in a streetcar accident in Düsseldorf on 14 September 1933, when he was 79.

References

External links

"Theodor Rocholl: The Broken Historical Painter"
by Alexander Roob @ the Melton Prior Institute
More works by Rocholl
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Rocholl, Theodor 1854 births 1933 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists World War I artists 19th-century war artists German war artists Düsseldorf school of painting

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links