Rudolf Hirth du Frênes (24 July 1846, Gräfentonna, near

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

- 1 May 1916,

Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Miltenberg (district), like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old ...

) was a German painter.

Life

His father was a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

. Du Frênes was his mother's maiden name, which he adopted for professional use. At the age of fifteen, he enrolled at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg The Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg () was founded in 1662 by Jacob von Sandrart and is the oldest art academy in German-speaking Central Europe. The art academy is situated in Nuremberg. Classes include studies in fine arts, sculpture, visual ...

, where he studied with

August von Kreling August von Kreling (23 May 1818 – 23 April 1876) was a German sculptor and painter born in Osnabrück. He studied with Peter von Cornelius, and in 1853 became director of the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg. He became a member of the Munich A ...

. Four years later, on the recommendation of his teachers, he transferred to the

Academy of Fine Arts Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, 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, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

and became a pupil of Hermann Anschütz. The following year, he joined a class at the studios of Arthur von Ramberg and worked there until the latter's death in 1875. While in Ramberg's class, he met Theodor Alt, Johann Sperl and

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 ...

. In 1869, they came together to share a studio in Munich and formed the core of an artists' group that was later known as the "Leibl-Kreis" (Leibl Circle). Around 1880, began a lengthy study trip which took him to Holland, Belgium and France where he visited all the major studios, galleries and museums. After five years, he returned to Germany, tied up his affairs in Munich and settled in

Dießen am Ammersee Dießen am Ammersee (Southern Bavarian: ''Diaßn am Ammasä'') is a municipality in the district of Landsberg (district), Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is located on the shores of the Ammersee. Geography Situated in the Bavarian Alpine Fo ...

. The influence of Leibl on Hirth's work was substantial. Even when Leibl was influenced by

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

that, in turn, influenced Hirth. And, despite Hirth's discovery of

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

and the obvious influence on his work, his paintings after the dissolution of the Leibl-Kreis are generally considered to be less inspired than those done before. For most of his life, he supported himself by painting portraits, which occasionally rise to the quality of his early work. He later moved to Miltenberg, where he died, aged seventy. Many of his works can be seen in the Municipal Museum of Miltenberg.

Friedrich Hirth Friedrich Hirth Ph.D. (16 April 1845 in Tonna, Germany, Gräfentonna, Saxe-Gotha – 10 January 1927 in Munich) was a German-American Sinology, sinologist. Biography He was educated at the universities of University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Humbo ...

, the

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

, and Georg Hirth, the journalist who created '' Jugend'' magazine, were his brothers.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Hirth du Frênes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirth du Fenes, Rudolf 1846 births 1916 deaths German genre painters 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists

Life

References

Further reading

External links