Fritz SONDERLAND ✿

Fritz Sonderland (September 20, 1836 in Düsseldorf – June 13, 1896) was a German painter and graphic artist of the Düsseldorf School. The son of the well-known Düsseldorf painter, etcher, illustrator and lithographer Johann Baptist Sonderland initially began training as an engineer.

From 1853 to 1861 he followed his father and studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where he became friends with the genre painters Hubert Salentin, Friedrich Hiddemann and Ernst Bosch. His teachers were Josef Wintergerst, Theodor Hildebrandt and from 1858 Karl Ferdinand Sohn and Eduard Bendemann. There were also Karl Mosler, Heinrich Mücke and Rudolf Wiegmann.

His mostly ironic-humorous compositions became extraordinarily popular and show clear references to the works of Hiddemann and Benjamin Vautier in their design. From the early 1860s he was represented with his works in exhibitions in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Munich (diploma 1876) and many other German cities, but also in Vienna, Glasgow, London (medal 1874) and Chicago (art exhibition of the World Exhibition 1893).

Through reproductions in the widely circulated entertainment journals of the time - e.g. "Daheim", "Die Gartenlaube", "Der Salon", "Illustrirte Zeitung" or "Über Land und Meer" - he achieved a high level of popularity. Although not as well known as his father during his lifetime, his paintings still enjoy enduring popularity with auction houses. Sonderland lived and worked in Düsseldorf throughout his life and belonged to the artists' association Malkasten (KVM) and the academic artists' association "Orient".