Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt (30 May 1858, in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

– 29 October 1915, 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 ...

) was a German painter, illustrator and watercolorist; noted for

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 ...

and historical scenes, most of which include horses.

Biography

He came from a family of shippers and merchants. His first painting lessons were at the "Schmidtschen Porzellanmalinstitut" (porcelain painting school) in

. He completed his education there at the Royal Arts and Crafts School and went to work for his family, trading in grain and produce, although he continued to paint in his spare time. His apprenticeship involved several stays abroad; in

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

(1874),

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(1875/76) and

Straßburg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department and the official seat of the European Parliament. The cit ...

(1876). In 1878, he attended the Exposition Universelle in Paris. That same year, his first illustrations appeared in the magazine ''

Über Land und Meer ''Über'' (, sometimes written ''uber'' in English-language publications) is a German language word meaning "over", "above" or "across". It is an etymological twin with German ''ober'', and is a cognate (through Proto-Germanic) with English ...

'' (Over Land and Sea) and he won a Gold Medal from the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

, for his depiction of a scene from '' Wallenstein's Camp''. As a result, he decided to pursue art professionally and enrolled at the Academy, where he studied with

Gabriel von Hackl Gabriel (von) Hackl (24 March 1843 – 5 June 1926) was a German historicist painter. Life and work He was born in Maribor, Lower Styria, Austrian Empire. A surgeon's son, he attended the gymnasium in his home town and the city school in Graz ...

and

Gyula Benczúr Gyula Benczúr (28 January 1844, Nyíregyháza – 16 July 1920, Szécsény) was a Hungarian painter and art teacher. An "outstanding exponent of academicism", he specialized in portraits and historical scenes. He is "considered one of the grea ...

. In 1882, he began private studies with Wilhelm Lindenschmit. In 1894, he married Else Amalie Fellerer (1872-1919), whose father was a

Hofrat was the title of the highest advising officials at the imperial, royal, or princely courts of the Holy Roman Empire, who jointly formed the ''Geheimer Rat'' reporting to the ruler. The term remained in use during subsequent monarchic reigns in Ge ...

at the

Bavarian court The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdo ...

, and opened his own studio. He also became a member of several artistic associations, including the (Artists' Co-operative). In 1896, he joined its offshoot, the Luitpold-Gruppe, devoted to advancing modern trends. He became a Professor at the Munich Academy in 1912 and, in 1914, he was named Secretary of the "Allgemeinen Deutschen Künstler Gruppe". Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt - Die Heimkehr

Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt - Die Heimkehr

He died unexpectedly in 1915. Else married the painter Carl von Marr the following year. He was distantly related to the aircraft designer,

Willy Messerschmitt Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer who designed a number of prominent aircraft for the ''Luftwaffe'' and civil aviation. Messerschmitt designed a numb ...

Sources

* Ernst Viktor Tobler, "Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt", in: ''Reclams Universum'' 32 (1916), Vol.14, pp.829-832. *Hans Fischer, "Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt", in: ''Lebensläufe aus Franken'', 7. Vol.2, 1922, pp.280-288. * "Pius Ferdinand Messerschmitt". In:

Thieme-Becker Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was compl ...

: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart''. Vol.XXIV, E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1930, p.433.

External links

ArtNet: More works by Messerschmitt.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerschmitt, Pius 1858 births 1915 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German genre painters German illustrators People from Bamberg German artists

Biography

Sources

Further reading

External links