Ernst Kreidolf or Konrad Ernst Theophil Kreidolf (9 February 1863 – 12 August 1956) was a Swiss

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

largely known for illustrating children's books about flower fairies.

Early life and education

Konrad Ernst Theophil Kreidolf, the second eldest child of the Kreidolf family, was born on 9 February 1863 in

Berne, Switzerland Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

. The family relocated to

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where his father opened a toy shop. Ernst Kreidolf was raised by his grandparents in

Tägerwilen Tägerwilen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. Geography Tägerwilen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 47.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 37.4% is forested. Of the re ...

, Switzerland. In Konstanz, he began an apprenticeship as a lithographer at the ''Lithographische Anstalt Schmidt-Pecht'' (Lithographic Institute JA Pecht) while simultaneously studying drawing. Following the completion of his apprenticeship, Kreidolf kept working for Schmidt-Pecht as an assistant in order to provide for his family following the bankruptcy of his parents' shop. In

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, he attended the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

. He supplemented his income by working as a lithographic draftsman. Beginning in 1885, he studied art at Paul Nauen's private art school. On his second application in 1887, the

Akademie der Bildenden Künste München The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, 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, ...

accepted Kreidolf as a student. He studied under

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

and

Ludwig von Löfftz Ludwig von Löfftz (21 June 1845 – 3 December 1910) was a German genre and landscape painter. Biography He was born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of August von Kreling and Karl Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Wilhelm von Diez at the Academy of F ...

Career

He was a leading figure in the

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

movement. His work as picture books demonstrates a high level of technical proficiency as well as exact

botanical Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

zoological Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and dis ...

knowledge. Almost all of his illustrations include animals and plants given human characteristics. Kreidolf's work often features

dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

in significant or prominent roles. The

Dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: "badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety of c ...

belonging to Kreidolf's friend and author Leopold Weber, whom he met in Partkirchen, served as inspiration for a large number of quite varied sketches, watercolors, paintings, and a whole illustrated book.

Death

Kreidolf died on 12 August 1956 in Berne. He is interred in Bern's

Schosshalden cemetery The Schosshalden cemetery (in German: Schosshaldenfriedhof) is a cemetery at Ostermundigenstrasse 116 in Bern. Overview It lies on the border to the Ostermundigen municipality, has been opened in 1877 as a replacement for the rose garden an ...

Gallery

References

19th-century Swiss painters Swiss male painters 20th-century Swiss painters 1863 births 1956 deaths 19th-century Swiss male artists 20th-century Swiss male artists {{Switzerland-painter-stub