Munich School ( el, Σχολή του Μονάχου) is the name given to a group of painters who worked 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 ...

or were trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Munich (german: Münchner Akademie der Bildenden Künste) between 1850 and 1918. In the second half of the 19th century the Academy became one of the most important institutions in Europe for training artists and attracted students from across Europe and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History and representative artists

Munich was an important center of painting and visual art in the period between 1850 and 1914. The mid-century movement away from the

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

and emphasis on fresco painting of the earlier Munich school was led by

Karl von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fa ...

, who was a professor at the Munich Academy from 1856 and became its director in 1874.Norman 1978, p. 167. Piloty's approach to history painting was influenced by the French academician

Paul Delaroche Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English ...

, and by the painterly colorism of Rubens and the Venetians. Besides Piloty, other influential teachers at the Academy were

Wilhelm von Diez Albrecht Christoph Wilhelm von Diez (17 January 1839, Bayreuth – 25 February 1907, Munich) was a German painter and illustrator of the Munich School. Life He attended a trade school in Munich, followed by the Polytechnic School (precursor of ...

(1839–1907),

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 ...

, Arthur von Ramberg and Nikolaos Gyzis. Artists of the Munich School include

Anton Braith Anton Braith (2 September 1836 – 3 January 1905) was a German landscape and animal painter. He was also a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich Life Braith was born in Biberach an der Riß. His father was a day-laborer who later beca ...

, Alfred Kowalski,

Hans Makart Hans Makart (28 May 1840 – 3 October 1884) was a 19th-century Austrian academic history painter, designer, and decorator. Makart was a prolific painter whose ideas significantly influenced the development of visual art in Austria-Hungary, Ger ...

, Gabriel Max, Victor Müller, Fritz Osswald,

Franz von Lenbach Franz Seraph Lenbach, after 1882, Ritter von Lenbach (13 December 1836 – 6 May 1904), was a German painter known primarily for his portraits of prominent personalities from the nobility, the arts, and industry. Because of his standing in society ...

Friedrich Kaulbach Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Kaulbach (8 July 1822 – 17 September 1903) was a German Painting, painter from Bad Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont. His father was Christian Kaulbach (1777–1847), a cabinet maker in Ar ...

Wilhelm Leibl Wilhelm Maria Hubertus Leibl (October 23, 1844 – December 4, 1900) was a German realist painter of portraits and scenes of peasant life. Biography Leibl was born in Cologne, where his father was the director of the Cathedral choir. He was a ...

Wilhelm Trübner Wilhelm Trübner (February 3, 1851 – December 21, 1917) was a German realist painter of the circle of Wilhelm Leibl. Biography Trübner was born in Heidelberg. He was the third son of a silver- and goldsmith, Johann Georg Trübner, and h ...

, and the genre painters Franz Defregger,

Eduard von Grützner Eduard Theodor Ritter von Grützner (May 26, 1846 – April 2, 1925) was a German painter and professor of art. He was especially noted for his genre paintings of monks. He also repeatedly portrayed Falstaff. Childhood Grützner was b ...

Hermann von Kaulbach Hermann von Kaulbach (26 July 1846 in Munich – 9 December 1909 in Munich) was a German painter of the Munich School. Life Kaulbach was the son of painter Wilhelm von Kaulbach. He was originally a medical student at the Ludwig Maximili ...

and

Miroslav Kraljević Miroslav Kraljević (14 December 1885 – 16 April 1913) was a Croatian painter, printmaker and sculptor, active in the early part of the 20th century. He is one of the founders of modern art in Croatia. Kraljević studied painting in Vienna an ...

. The last generation of students of the Munich School included nearly all the major figures of the German avantgarde, such as

Lovis Corinth Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism. Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Sec ...

Ernst Oppler Ernst Oppler (19 September 1867 1 March 1929) was a German Impressionist painter and etcher born in Hanover. Early life Ernst Oppler was the son of Edwin Oppler (1831-1880), a prominent German-Jewish architect. Ernst Oppler's brothers were t ...

Vassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented ...

and Franz Marc.

Beyond Bavaria

There were notable schools of Munich-trained painters active outside of Germany. The formative influence of teachers and examples of the Munich School shaped the academic naturalism in many European countries, e.g. the

Greek academic art of the 19th century The most important artistic movement of Greek art in the 19th century was academic realism, often called in Greece "the Munich School" ( el, Σχολή του Μονάχου) because of the strong influence from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of ...

. Due to the historical affinity between Bavaria and Greece—Prince

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

was from 1832 to 1862 the first King of Greece—many Greek artists were trained in Munich. The Munich School in Greek art is the most important artistic movement of

Greek Art Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of E ...

in the 19th century with strong influences from the Academy of Munich.Bank of Greece – Events
Among the leading artists of this school were

Konstantinos Volanakis Konstantinos Volanakis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Βολανάκης; 1837 - 29 June 1907) was a Greek painter who became known as the "father of Greek seascape painting". Biography Volanakis was born at Heraklion on Crete, to parents wh ...

Georgios Roilos Georgios Roilos ( el, Γεώργιος Ροϊλός; 1867 – 28 August 1928) was one of the most important and influential Greek painters of the late 19th-early 20th century. He belonged to the so-called "Munich School". His major works include h ...

, Nikolaos Gyzis, Polychronis Lembesis, Nikolaos Vokos, Nikiphoros Lytras and

Georgios Jakobides Georgios Jakobides (Γεώργιος Ιακωβίδης; 11 January 1853 – 13 December 1932) was a painter and one of the main representatives of the Greek artistic movement of the Munich School. He founded and was the first curator of the Nati ...

. Most of the artists of the Hungarian Nagybanya school of art, such as Gyula Aggházy, were educated in Munich. Poland was represented by, among others,

Józef Chełmoński Józef Marian Chełmoński (November 7, 1849 – April 6, 1914) was a Polish painter of the realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romantic period in partitioned Poland. He is famous for monumental painti ...

Józef Brandt Józef Brandt (1841 in Szczebrzeszyn – 1915 in Radom) was a Polish painter, a representative of the Munich School, best known for his paintings of battles. Life Brandt studied in Warsaw in the school of J.N. Leszczynski and at the Noblemen's ...

, Władysław Czachórski,

Julian Fałat Julian Fałat, (30 July 1853 in Tuligłowy near Lwów – 9 July 1929 in Bystra Śląska) was one of the most prolific Polish painters of watercolor and one of the country's foremost landscape painters as well as one of the leading Polish im ...

Aleksander Gierymski Ignacy Aleksander Gierymski (30 January 1850, Warsaw – d. 6–8 March 1901, Rome) was a Polish painter of the late 19th century, the younger brother of Maksymilian Gierymski. He was a representative of Realism as well as an important precur ...

Maksymilian Gierymski Maksymilian Dionizy Gierymski (1846 in Warsaw – 1874 in Reichenhall, Bavaria) was a Polish painter, specializing mainly in watercolours. He was the older brother of painter Aleksander Gierymski. As a seventeen-year-old boy, he particip ...

and Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. The Swedish painters Johan Christoffer Boklund and Johan Fredrik Höckert studied in Munich. Americans in Munich: Joseph Frank Currier "figured prominently in the Munich School", ; with, "exceptional power and originality", .

Frank Duveneck Frank Duveneck (né Decker; October 9, 1848 – January 3, 1919) was an American figure and portrait painter. Early life Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of German immigrant Bernhard Decker. Decker died in a cholera epidemic whe ...

and

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

were the most prominent exemplars of the Munich School in American art.Severens 1995, p. 98. Other American artists who studied in Munich include Harry Chase,

Robert Koehler Robert Koehler (November 28, 1850 – April 23, 1917) was a German-born Painting, painter and art teacher who spent most of his career in the United States. Biography Koehler was born in Hamburg; his family spelled their name Köhler until ...

John Henry Twachtman John Henry Twachtman (August 4, 1853 – August 8, 1902) was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impr ...

, and Walter Shirlaw.

Style

The Munich school is characterized by a naturalistic style and dark

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

. Typical subjects are landscape,

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

, still-life, and history painting.

Notes

References

*Brooklyn Museum, ''Triumph of Realism: an exhibition of European and American realist paintings,1850–1910''. University of California, 1967. *Greenville County Museum of Art, and Martha R. Severens. ''Greenville County Museum of Art: The Southern Collection''. New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with the Greenville County Museum of Art, 1995. *Norman, Geraldine, ''Nineteenth-Century Painters and Painting: A Dictionary''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.

External links

Münchner SchuleMünchner Schule bei Ketterer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munich School German art movements German artist groups and collectives American art movements Culture in Munich Arts in Greece