Theodor Pixis

August Ludwig Theodor Pixis (1 July 1831 – 19 July 1907) was a German painter, graphic artist, illustrator and etcher. He was born in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

. After graduating from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich in 1849, he began studying law. He soon turned to art, and became a pupil of the painters Philipp von Foltz and

Wilhelm von Kaulbach Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography E ...

. Pixis made his debut in 1854 with his painting ''Coriolanus''. Funded and supported by his teachers, Pixis left in 1856 for two years of study in Italy. In the autumn of 1858 Pixis returned to Germany and settled in Munich. One of his first major works after his return was a cycle of illustrations for the

Gudrun Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two que ...

legend. From 1859 Pixis was instrumental in the decoration of the Bavarian National Museum. At the request of Maximilian II, Pixis created three paintings from the histories of Charles X and Charles XI. From 1862 onwards there came in rapid succession many pictures which were highly praised by critics, such as ''Calvin meets Servetus in prison'', as well as illustrations for a cycle of German folk songs. For the Bruckmann publishing house, Pixis created three images for the ''

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

-Galerie'' and four representations of the seasons. He illustrated ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' by

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

, and contributed to the ''

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

-Galerie''. King

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

commissioned Pixis to create a series of pen drawings illustrating the music dramas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

. Here he proved himself very much a master student of Kaulbach. His large oil paintings show the influence of the elegant and sentimental manner of

Arthur von Ramberg Arthur von Ramberg (4 September 1819 – 5 February 1875) was an Austrian-born painter who worked in Germany. Biography He was born in Vienna. He studied art at Hanover and early made a tour in Italy, Hungary and Styria. In 1840, he attended the ...

. He was also known for the invention of the process known as Pixis painting (''Pixis-Patentmalerei''). With the aid of photographs, oil paintings (old and new masters) could be reproduced more easily. But after a few years, his complicated process was replaced by simpler methods. At the age of 76 years Theodor Pixis died in Pöcking. Today a street is named after him in Kaiserslautern. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pixis, Theodor 1831 births 1907 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German illustrators