Ernst Toepfer (4 June 1877 – 6 August 1955) was a German

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. Toepfer was born in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of ...

. From 1893 to 1895, he attended the ''Zeichen-, Mal- und

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

'', a private artist's school led by H. Bouffier, where he was commended for his diligence ("''recht gutes Auffassungsvermögen und recht gutes Können, gepaart mit großem Fleiße''"), then studied at the ''Großherzogliche Akademie der bildenden Künste'' in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, led by Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth, until mid-1898. Starting in 1898, Toepfer then studied at the ''Königlich-Akademische Hochschule der bildenden Künste'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

for ten years, from which he graduated in late 1908 as a master student with his own studio. Toepfer married Maria Theresia Klaus, who he had met during a stay in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, in

in 1909; the couple then moved to

Idstein Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the ''Deutsch ...

in 1910 after finding a suitable house, the "''Heerhof''" (also "''Höerhof''"; Obergasse 15), complete with antique furniture. After serving as a soldier during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Toepfer in 1918 returned to his home region in Hesse and resumed painting, often depicting the region in which he grew up. His realist

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

pictures are influenced by the works of

Lovis Corinth Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism. Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Secessio ...

Wilhelm Leibl Wilhelm Maria Hubertus Leibl (October 23, 1844 – December 4, 1900) was a German realist painter of portraits and scenes of peasant life. Biography Leibl was born in Cologne, where his father was the director of the Cathedral choir. He was a ...

Carl Schuch Carl Eduard Schuch (30 September 1846 – 13 September 1903) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna, who spent most of his lifetime outside Austria, in Germany, Italy and France. He painted primarily still lifes and landscapes. From 1865 to 18 ...

and Karl Blechen. Toepfer died in Idstein on 6 August 1955. A street in Idstein is named after him.

Literature

* Christel Lentz; Gerhard Lampe: ''Der Maler Ernst Toepfer: Leben und Werk'', 2002, ,

External links

Ernst Topfer on artnet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toepfer, Ernst 1877 births 1955 deaths German Army personnel of World War I 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Artists from Wiesbaden Painters from Hesse People from Hesse-Nassau