Jakob Becker (15 March 1810 – 22 December 1872) was a German

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

noted mainly for his

genre Genre () is any style or form 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 fo ...

paintings of peasants.

Biography

He was born in Dittelsheim at

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

, and began his studies with Franz Nikolaus Jung in Worms. When he was 17 years old he started to work as a lithographer. His first important work was a panorama over the Rhine from Mainz to Cologne. Between 1833 and 1841 Becker studied at the Academy of Art in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

; his professors were Johann Wilhelm Schirmer and Wilhelm von Schadow. In 1842 he became professor of

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

and

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

at the

Städelschule The Städelschule, full name Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule, is a tertiary school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It accepts about 20 students each year from around 500 applicants, and has a total of approximately 150 ...

in Frankfurt.

Art

Becker is associated with the

Düsseldorf school of painting Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. He broke with the lofty attitude of much Biblical historical painting in the Städel creating his profane scenes. As the first professor of landscape and genre painting, he sought his subjects in the countryside and was especially interested in the social problems of the peasantry. He used much realistic detail and emotional gesture. One of his best-known works was ''Praying Peasant Family''. He was also open to French influences. In 1858 he offered to share his studio with

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

and – despite having to endure some rudeness from the French artist – Becker accepted some of his stylistic influences. Becker taught successfully at the academy for thirty years. Some of his pupils were to form the Kronberg Painters' Colony one generation later. Becker died in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

on 22 December 1872.

Literature

* Wolfgang Metternich: ''Jakob Becker, der Lehrer der Kronberger Maler'' (Jakob Becker, teacher of the Kronberg painters). Museumsgesellschaft Kronberg e.V. Frankfurt am Main. Kramer Verlag, 1991 * Wolfgang Metternich: ''Der Maler Jakob Becker. Ein Frankfurter Lehrer und Wegbereiter im 19. Jahrhundert'' (The painter Jakob Becker. A teacher of Frankfurt and 19th-century pioneer). Exhibition at the corporate museum of

Hoechst AG Hoechst AG () was a German chemicals, later life sciences, company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999. With the new company's 2004 merger with Sanofi-Synthélabo, it became a subsidiar ...

at Höchster Schloss, 17 March 1985 to 20 April 1985. Hoechst AG, Frankfurt a. M., 1985 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Jakob 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists Düsseldorf school of painting German male painters 1810 births 1872 deaths

Biography

Art

See also

Literature