Joseph Ferdinand Becker (1846–1877) was a German painter.

Life

He was born at

Gonsenheim Gonsenheim is a borough in the northwest corner of Mainz, Germany. With about 25,000 inhabitants, it is the second-most populated borough of Mainz, before Oberstadt and after Neustadt. History Protohistory The history of Gonsenheim reaches bac ...

on 2 July 1846, the son of an innkeeper. Becker's father was initially opposed to him following an artistic career, but was eventually persuaded otherwise by the painter August Gustav Lasinsky who was decorating a church at Finthen. Lasinsky – an artist working under the influence of the

Nazarene Brotherhood The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romanticism, German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a b ...

– took Becker on as a pupil between 1865 and 1868, and Becker assisted his teacher on decorations at the church of St Ignaz in Mainz, and at

Mainz Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Mainzer Dom nw.jpg , imagesize = , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt = , pushpin mapsize = , relief = , map caption = , iso regi ...

. In 1868 he moved to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

, where he studied under

Eduard von Steinle Eduard von Steinle (2 July 1810 – 19 September 1886) was a historical painter and member of the Nazarene movement. Life He was born 2 July 1810 in Vienna. Steinle came successively under the influence of the painters Leopold Kupelwieser, ...

at the

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

Kunstinstitut. Steinle encouraged him to make works illustrating folk tales, which he executed in watercolour. His growing reputation led to a commission from the Prince Georg zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg to decorate the chapel of

Löwenstein Castle Löwenstein Castle (not to be confused with the ruined medieval castle of the same name in Löwenstein, Germany) is a Late Baroque style castle built in the eighteenth century in Kleinheubach, Germany. History Prince Dominic Marquard of Löw ...

at Kleinheubach am Main (1870–1) and in 1872 he painted an altarpiece for the church of

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupati ...

in Mainz. Becker's work was in great demand: his most celebrated picture, ''Der Jude im Dorn'' (1874–5), a watercolour illustrating the German fairy tale by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...

was purchased for the royal collection

Galerie Neue Meister The Galerie Neue Meister (, ''New Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 300 paintings from the 19th century until today, including works from Otto Dix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The gallery also exhibits a ...

in Dresden for 4,500 marks, and his last major work, "Die Rolandsknappen", a cycle of five watercolours, was bought by the city of Mainz in 1876. It is now in the collection of the

Landesmuseum Mainz The Landesmuseum Mainz, or Mainz State Museum, is a museum of art and history in Mainz, Germany. In March 2010 it reopened in full after an extensive renovation. The museum has its roots in a painting collection donated by Napoleon and Chapta ...

.Die Nazarener - vom Tiber an den Rhein
Drei Malerschulen des 19. Jahrhunderts In April 1877 he moved to Munich to work for King

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

of Bavaria, but died of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

there on 21 August 1877, aged 31. His body was returned to Gosenheim for burial. He is sometimes known as "Maler Becker", meaning simply "Painter Becker".

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Ferdinand 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 1846 births 1877 deaths Artists from Mainz People from Rhenish Hesse