COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Schildering voorstellend een vulkaan op Java door Max Fleischer TMnr 822-9

Richard Paul Max Fleischer (4 July 1861, Lipine in

Oberschlesien Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heavy ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

– 3 April 1930,

Menton, France Menton (; in classical norm or in Mistralian norm, , ; ; or depending on the orthography) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Menton ...

) was a German painter and bryologist. As a

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, he is remembered for his work with

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

n mosses.

Biography

He took art classes in Breslau, qualifying as an art teacher in 1881. He furthered his studies in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where his interest in

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s grew. He subsequently moved to

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

in 1892 in order to study

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

. In the latter part of the 1890s, he was invited by botanist

Melchior Treub Melchior Treub (26 December 1851 – 3 October 1910) was a Dutch botanist. He worked at the Bogor Botanical Gardens in Buitenzorg on the island of Java, south of Batavia, Dutch East Indies, gaining attention for his work on tropical flora. He a ...

to Java as an illustrator. On Java, along with his artistic duties, he collected regional botanical specimens and conducted investigations of the island's mosses. Fleischer distributed several

exsiccata Exsiccata (Latin, ''gen.'' -ae, ''plur.'' -ae) is a work with "published, uniform, numbered set of preserved specimens distributed with printed labels". Typically, exsiccatae are numbered collections of dried herbarium Biological specimen, spe ...

e, among them ''Musci frondosi Archipelagi Indici exsiccati'' and – together with

Carl Friedrich Warnstorf Carl Friedrich Warnstorf (2 December 1837 in Sommerfeld – 28 February 1921 in Berlin-Friedenau) was a German educator and bryologist specializing in Sphagnum studies. He received his education at the teaching seminar in Neuzelle (1855-1858), ...

– ''Bryotheca Europaea Meridionalis''.Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany. During his time spent in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, he also learned the technique of creating batik prints from

vegetable dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archaeolo ...

s.JSTOR Global Plants
(biography)Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1:
Cyclopaedia of collectors After several years on Java, he traveled to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, prior to returning to Germany in 1903. From 1908 to 1913, he revisited

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

, where he collected mostly

bryophyte Bryophytes () are a group of embryophyte, land plants (embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic Division (taxonomy), division referred to as Bryophyta ''Sensu#Common qualifiers, sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular pla ...

s but also

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s and

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

on Java. In 1914 he began work at the botanical museum 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 ...

and three years later, he was appointed a professor of botany at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

. In 1925 he traveled to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

in order to paint and to study the regions' mosses. During the following year, he relocated to

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, and in 1927 he returned to the Canaries with his second wife, P.G. Haigton. After his death in 1930, his private collections and library were purchased by an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Gallery

File:Max Fleischer Weiblicher Studienkopf.jpg, Painting of a female student File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschilderij schets van de Borobudur TMnr 6345-1.jpg, Painting of

Borobudur Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur (, ), is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, near the city of Magelang and the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indonesia. Constructed of gray andesite-like stone, the temple consi ...

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschildering door Max Fleischer voorstellend de tempelruïne Candi Sewu TMnr 822-3.jpg, Ruins of

Candi Sewu Sewu (, ) is an eighth-century Mahayana Buddhist or Hindu located 800 metres north of Prambanan in Central Java, Indonesia. The word for a Hindu or Buddist temple in Javanese is "candi" (), hence, the common name is "Candi Sewu". Candi Sewu is ...

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschildering door Max Fleischer voorstellend de tempel Candi Bima op het Diengplateau TMnr 822-4.jpg, Painting of Candi Bima in

Dieng Plateau The Dieng Plateau, often called simply Dieng (; ) is a plateau in Central Java, Indonesia that forms the floor of the caldera complex on the Dieng Volcanic Complex. Administratively, this plateau is included in the territory of Banjarnegara Regen ...

File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschildering door Max Fleischer voorstellend vier tempels op het Diëng Plateau TMnr 822-2.jpg, Candi Arjuna in Dieng Plateau File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Aquarel voorstellend een tempel op Bali TMnr 3204-104.jpg, Painting of Balinese Temple File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschilderij voorstellende de Plantentuin te Buitenzorg TMnr 15-983.jpg, Painting of Bogor Botanical Garden, where Max Fleischer work with Dr. Melchior Treub. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Olieverfschilderij voorstellende drie mannen in een vijver TMnr 15-985.jpg, Painting of 3 Javanese men in a pond File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Javaanse danseressen TMnr 3204-367.jpg, Painting of Javanese dancers File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Schildering voorstellend een Javaans rivierlandschap door Max Fleischer TMnr 822-12.jpg, A Javanese river landscape

Publications

* "Die Musci der Flora von Buitenzorg : zugleich Laubmoosflora von Java / bearbeitet von Max Fleischer; Enthaltend alle aus Java bekannt gewordenden Sphagnales und Bryales, nebst kritischen Bemerkungen vieler Archipelarten, sowie, indischer und australischer Arten"; Series: Flore de Buitenzorg; pt. 5.

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

: E.J. Brill, (1900–1922).Biodiversity Heritage Library
Die Musci der Flora von Buitenzorg In the fourth volume of this work, he delineated a new natural system of classifying mosses that was subsequently adopted by

Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus (28 October 1849 – 9 February 1929) was a Finnish botanist who studied the mosses (Bryophyta). He is best known for authoring the treatment of 'Musci' in Engler and Prantl's '' Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien''. ...

in his second edition of ''Musci'' in

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with K ...

's ''

Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien ''Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' is a botanical work in German language, first published in many volumes between 1887–1915 and written by Adolf Engler (1844–1930) and Karl Anton Prantl (1849–1893). It contained a complete revision of ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischer, Max 1861 births 1930 deaths Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German botanists German bryologists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German expatriates in the Dutch East Indies

Biography

Gallery

Publications

See also

References