Adolph Menzel

Adolph Menzel

Adolph Menzel, full name being Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel, was a German realist artist who lived from 1815 to 1905. He was one of the two most prominent German artists of the nineteenth century, in the company of the talented Caspar David Friedrich.  He lived from 1815 to 1905.  Menzel was born in modern day Poland, moving to Berlin, Germany with the rest of his family when he was 15 years old.

Menzel was self-taught. He had only just started art school when he had to quit and take over his father’s lithograph business.  Luckily, that same year, his art was first published in a commissioned lithograph series, and he was an immediate success.

Menzel produced a large number of drawings that were used to illustrate books, making him one of the earliest illustrators in the world.  He soon transitioned to painting.  As Menzel had no formal training, he created works without regard to art rules of the day, starting the German realist art movement.  Some art critics see the very earliest beginnings of what would be both  the French Impressionist and Expressionist art movements in his work.

Adolph Menzel was well-admired by other artists, including Edgar Degas who called him ‘the greatest living master.’ He was also the most successful living artist in Germany during his time. Most of his paintings were bought by museums before they had a chance to leave the country. Young German artists, such as Max Klinger, looked up to Menzel. Interestingly, he has said that he felt estranged from others, as he was embarrassed by his short stature, which was 4 foot 6 inches, and larger head.

In 1898, Menzel was given a German nobility title and was admitted to the Order of the Black Eagle. He was the very first artist to receive this honor. That same year, after the rewards, he formally changed his name from Adolph Menzel to Adolph von Menzel.  When he died in 1905 at 90 years old, Kaiser William II himself walked behind Menzel’s coffin during the funeral procession.

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