- Adolph Menzel
Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel, (
December 8 ,1815 Breslau -February 9 ,1905 Berlin ) was a Germanartist noted for drawings,etching s, and paintings.His father was the headmaster of a school for girls, and intended to educate his son as a professor; but he would not thwart his taste for art. Left an
orphan in 1832, Menzel had to maintain his family. In 1833 Sachse ofBerlin published his first work, an album of pen-and-ink drawings reproduced on stone, to illustrateGoethe 's little poem, "Kunstlers Erdenwallen". He executedlithograph s in the same manner to illustrate "Denkwürdigkeiten aus der brandenburgisch-preussischen Geschichte"; "The Five Senses" and "The Prayer", as well as diplomas for various corporations and societies.From 1839 to 1842 he produced 400 drawings, largely introducing to Germany the technique of
wood engraving , to illustrate the "Geschichte Friedrichs des Grossen" ("History ofFrederick the Great ") byFranz Kugler . He subsequently brought out "Friedrichs der Grossen Armee in ihrer Uniformirung" ("The Uniforms of the Army under Frederick the Great"), "Soldaten Friedrichs der Grossen" ("The Soldiers of Frederick the Great"); and finally, by order of the kingFrederick William IV , he illustrated the works ofFrederick the Great , "Illustrationen zu den Werken Friedricks des Grossen" (1843-1849).By these works Menzel established his claim to be considered one of the first, if not actually the first, of the illustrators of his day in his own line. at Koenigsberg", he produced an exact representation of the ceremony without regard to the traditions of official painting.
In Germany he received many honors, and was the first painter to be given the
Order of the Black Eagle in 1898 which included a title of nobility, becoming von Menzel.References
*1911
External links
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