Adolph von MENZEL (1815-1905) ✿

"Il Piede dell'Artista", 1876 - Olio su pannello -

Adolf von Menzel (German Realist painter, 1815-1905)

Menzel was the leading German artist of the last half of the 19th century. He exhibited his first drawing at the age of 12. His father ran a lithographic printing works; and by the time he was 14, Menzel was contributing illustrations to publications. Active as a printmaker & a dazzling draftsman throughout his prolific career, he turned to oil painting only after he was 30. When visiting Paris, Menzel associated with other artists there including Edgar Degas. He chronicled  life in Berlin. He was knighted in 1898, and received a state funeral upon his death in 1905.

Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (1815-1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of the 19th century, and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany. First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel.

His popularity in his native country, owing especially to his history paintings, was such that few of his major paintings left Germany, as many were quickly acquired by museums in Berlin. Menzel's graphic work and especially his drawings were more widely disseminated; these, along with informal paintings not initially intended for display, have largely accounted for his posthumous reputation.

Although he traveled in order to find subjects for his art, to visit exhibitions, and to meet with other artists, Menzel spent most of his life in Berlin, and was, despite numerous friendships, by his own admission detached from others. It is likely that he felt socially estranged for physical reasons alone Menzel had a large head, and stood about four foot six inches.