Arnold Forstmann (born 16 June 1842 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

; died 1914 or later), German landscape-painter. Besides the typical composed romantic landscapes in the tradition of the

Düsseldorf school of painting The Düsseldorf school of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy (now the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or Düsseldorf State Art Academy) during the 1830s and 1840s, when the A ...

Forstmann painted ''

vedute A ''veduta'' (Italian for "view"; plural ''vedute'') is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting or, more often, print of a cityscape or some other vista. The painters of ''vedute'' are referred to as ''vedutisti''. Origins This genre ...

'' of the Rhine Valley and the Alps.

Life

Arnold Forstmann entered the Düsseldorf Academy in the third quarter of 1867. He started his artistic education in a class of landscape-painters directed by

Oswald Achenbach Oswald Achenbach (; 2 February 18271 February 1905) was a German painter associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Though little known today, during his lifetime he was counted among the most important landscape painters of Europe. Thr ...

(1827–1905) until 1871. In February 1872 he left the art academy; his last teacher was Albert Flamm (1823–1906). In the list of students of the art academy Forstmann was remarked as

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

. After his education Arnold Forstmann lived in

as a landscape-painter. In the year 1904 he moved from

to Köln. The date of the death of Arnold Forstmann is not known so far. The last record of his life is taken from a genre-portrait "In devotion", dated 1914.

Achievement

Typically, Arnold Forstmann's paintings are all very detailed. The basic composition (frequently medial section, rarely central view) is supported by the use of strong contrasts and a reduced palette which is mostly tuned on one basic tone. In the late-romantic painting tradition Forstmann frequently uses figures in the typical rear view position. In the composed landscapes elements like mountains, single houses or huts, rivers or lakes are always present. The surface of the water is animated with small boats loaded with persons, one or more sailing vessel and sometimes a steamer far away. Even Forstmann's ''vedute'' are no exact copies of the real landscapes. As a rule, Forstmann varies the dimensions of selected elements of landscape in order to intensify the artistic expression. But these variations will never destroy the original impression of the real landscape (compare for example the painting of the Königssee). Apart from landscape-paintings, some single hunting-paintings, still life paintings and one genre-portrait are known. The signature "A. Forstmann", which never was altered, appears in two different writing variants. It is very likely that the signature version A is older than the signature version B. This fact can probably be used when the approximate period of the creation of a painting are estimated. With some exceptions, the paintings of Arnold Forstmann are not dated. Known dated paintings are: Lake in the

alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

(Alpensee) from 1869,

Oberwesel Oberwesel () is a town on the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Geography Location Oberwesel lies ...

at the

Rhine river ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

(Oberwesel am Rhein) from 1883, Summerday in

Altenahr Altenahr () is a municipality in the Ahrweiler (district), district of Ahrweiler, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative centre for the Verbandsgemeinde Altenahr, eponymous collective municipality, to which it belongs. Altenahr ...

(Sommertag in Altenahr) from 1904, Southern Marina (Südländische Marine) from 1905 (Köln), In Devotion (In Andacht) from 1914. File:Forstmann_Signatur_alt.jpg, signature version A File:Forstmann_Signatur_B.jpg, signature version B File:Forstmann_Signatur_neu.jpg, signature, dated 1905

Artwork

The ''

'' of the Rhine river valley (Rolandseck, Nonnenwerth and Drachenfels, Stolzenfels Castel) and of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

(

Chiemsee Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The Alz flows in ...

Königssee The Königssee is a natural lake in the extreme southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Berch ...

) are well known and there are many of landscapes. Some dealing with the so-called "wild romantic" genre, showing wild mountain-streams bordered by watermills and crossed by staggering bridges. These scenes are frequently lighted by a full moon that is partially covered by clouds. Moonlight is also the favourite illumination for Forstmann's fishermen-scenes. On the other hand, Forstmann painted peaceful daylight scenes showing sunny alp-meadows with a brooklet or mountain lakes, animated by small boats or sailing vessels. Furthermore, Forstmann painted

fjords In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

and marinas. As a common practice within the painters of the 19th century Forstmann painted his successful subjects more than once. There are up to 4 copies of a composition known. But every "copy" shows variations. Sometimes Forstmann only changes the size of the painting, or he mirrors the image or he alters the light (daylight/moonlight) or the season, sometimes he changes only some details.

Paintings in public exhibitions

* Rolandseck, Nonnenwerth und Drachenfels, Öl/Leinwand, um 1870 (Bonn, Stadtmuseum)

Bibliography

* Wend von Kalnein (Ed.): Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Düsseldorf/Darmstadt/Mainz 1978, * Haupt-Staatsarchiv Düsseldorf: Schülerlisten der Kunstakadenmie Düsseldorf * Carsten Roth: Arnold Forstmann. In: Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon Band 42. K.G. Saur Verlag, München Leipzig 2004, S. 459 {{DEFAULTSORT:Forstmann, Arnold 1842 births Year of death missing 19th-century German painters German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists 20th-century deaths 19th-century German male artists Düsseldorf school of painting

Life

Achievement

Artwork

Paintings in public exhibitions

See also

Bibliography