Julius Rolshoven (October 28, 1858 – December 8, 1930) was an American painter.

Biography

Rolshoven was born on October 28, 1858 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. At 18 he went to New York City to study at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

Art School, then the

Düsseldorf Academy 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 ...

, then continued on to Munich, studying under the Kentucky-born artist

Frank Duveneck Frank Duveneck (né Decker; October 9, 1848 – January 3, 1919) was an American figure and portrait painter. Early life Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernhard Decker. Decker died in a cholera epidemic whe ...

in his Venice and Florence schools, becoming one of the "Duveneck Boys". After some years in Paris and London, Rolshoven decided to settle in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1902. In 1905, while he was drawing outdoors, he discovered a building that had maintained the old charm of a castle, called "Devil's Castle" and belonged to the family Talani. The artist was so enthusiastic of the environment that in 1907 he bought the property in state of disrepair. Finally Rolshoven returned to the United States at the beginning of

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 ...

. In December 1915 he married his second wife Harriette Haynes Blazo in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. By 1916 Rolshoven had settled in the American southwest, setting up a studio in Santa Fe's Governor's Palace. He was also an early member of the

Taos Society of Artists The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico. Established in 1915, it was disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation ...

. From 1920 until his death he moved back and forth among his three residences, Florence, Detroit and Santa Fe. He died December 8, 1930 on shipboard in the Atlantic. "He lived for 40 years in Florence, Italy, his adopted home, re-converting a 900-year-old home, "Castello del Diavolo" into an estate so splendid that an impressed Italian government designated it as a national monument". In September 1957 Mrs. Rolshoven, the artist's widow, signed an agreement for a total donation in favor of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

of $100,000, of which $15,000 immediately and the remaining $85,000 to be paid later and from her assets; in addition, she donated twenty works made by her husband, which were prudently estimated at approximately between $50,000 and $75,000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolshoven, Julius 1858 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American expatriates in England American expatriates in France American expatriates in Italy American male painters Artists from Taos, New Mexico Painters from Santa Fe, New Mexico National Academy of Design members Taos Society of Artists

Biography

References

Further reading

External links