![Hans Thoma - Self-Portrait in a Birch Grove - Google Art Project](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Hans_Thoma_-_Self-Portrait_in_a_Birch_Grove_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
Hans Thoma (2 October 1839 – 7 November 1924) was a German
painter.
Biography
Hans Thoma was born on 2 October 1839 in
Bernau in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
,
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 ...
.
He was the son of a
miller
A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...
and was trained in the basics of painting by a painter of
clock faces.
He entered the Karlsruhe academy in 1859, where he studied under
Johann Wilhelm Schirmer
Johann Wilhelm Schirmer (5 September 1807 in Jülich – 11 September 1863 in Karlsruhe) was a German landscape artist born in Jülich, within the Prussian Duchy of Jülich.
Biography
Schirmer was started as a student of historical paint ...
and
Ludwig des Coudres
Ludwig des Coudres (10 May 1820, Kassel - 23 December 1878, Karlsruhe) was a German history and portrait painter. He also served as a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe. His son, Adolf Des Coudres, was a well-known landscape pa ...
– the latter of which had a major influence on his career.
He subsequently studied and worked, with but indifferent success, in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, until his reputation became firmly established as the result of an exhibition of some thirty of his paintings in Munich. He died in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
in 1924 at the age of 85.
Style
In spite of his studies under various masters, his art has little in common with modern ideas, and is formed partly by his early impressions of the simple idyllic life of his native district, partly by his sympathy with the early German masters, particularly with
Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube S ...
and
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is kno ...
. In his love of the details of nature, in his precise drawing of outline, and in his predilection for local coloring, he has distinct affinities with the
Pre-Raphaelites.
Works
Many of his pictures have found their way into two private collections in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. A portrait of the artist and two subject pictures, ''The Guardian of the Valley'' and ''Spring Idyll'' are at the
Galerie Neue Meister
The Galerie Neue Meister (, ''New Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 300 paintings from the 19th century until today, including works from Otto Dix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The gallery also exhibits a ...
; ''Eve in Paradise'' and ''The Open Valley'' at the
Städel. Other important pictures of his are ''Paradise'', ''Christ and Nicodemus'', ''The Flight into Egypt'', ''Charon'', ''Pietà'', ''Adam and Eve'', ''Solitude'', ''Tritons'', besides many landscapes and portraits.
He also produced numerous
lithographs and pen drawings, and some decorative
mural paintings, notably in a café at
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, and in the music room of the
Alfred Pringsheim
Alfred Pringsheim (2 September 1850 – 25 June 1941) was a German mathematician and patron of the arts. He was born in Ohlau, Prussian Silesia (now Oława, Poland) and died in Zürich, Switzerland.
Family and academic career
Pringsheim came ...
house in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
.
Selected works
File:Hans Thoma Spätsommertag im Schwarzwald 1892.jpg, Late Summer Day in the Black Forest
File:1873 Thoma Der Rhein bei Saeckingen anagoria.JPG, The Rhine Near Seackingen
File:Hans Thoma - Sonntagsfrieden.jpg, Sunday Peace
File:Thoma Still life with a hare.jpg, Still life with a hare, pheasants and a lobster
File:Thoma Diana under the tree.jpg, Diana under the tree
File:Hans Thoma - Der Kunstschriftsteller Conrad Fiedler.jpg, Portrait of Conrad Fiedler
File:Hans Thoma - Bildnis der beiden Töchter der Familie Haag (1883).jpg, The Haag Daughters
File:Hans Thoma - Sommer - Google Art Project.jpg, Summer
File:Hans Thoma - Die Berge von Carrara.jpg, The Mountains of Carrara
File:Hans Thoma - Die Gralsburg.jpg, The Gralsburg
File:Hans Thoma 009.jpg, Landscape
File:Hans Thoma - Blick auf Mamolsheim.jpg, View of Mamolsheim
File:Hans Thoma Versuchung auf dem Berge.jpg, Temptation on the Mount
File:Hans Thoma - Kinder mit Ziegenherde (1916).jpg, Children with a Herd of Goats
File:Thoma Acht tanzende Frauen in Vogelkörpern 1886.jpg, Eight Dancing Maidens in Bird Costumes
File:Hans Thoma Dezember.jpg, December
File:Hans Thoma Juni.jpg, June
File:Hans Thoma - Selbstporträt VI mit Blume (1919).jpg, Self-Portrait with Flower
References
*
External links
''German masters of the nineteenth century: paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany'' a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Hans Thoma (nos. 91–95)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thoma, Hans
1839 births
1924 deaths
People from Waldshut (district)
People from the Grand Duchy of Baden
19th-century German painters
19th-century German male artists
German male painters
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)