1566-1638 Georg Flegel Location German painter. He was the son of a shoemaker, and not being a Roman Catholic, probably moved to Vienna after 1580, when the Counter-Reformation began to take effect in Olmetz. In Vienna he became the assistant of Lucas van Valckenborch I, whom he subsequently followed to Frankfurt, then an important centre for art dealing and publishing. He filled in staffage in van Valckenborch pictures of the seasons and portraits, inserting fruit, table utensils and flowers as still-life set pieces. His faithful reproduction of flowers and fruit drew on watercolours by Derer, still-life painters from the Netherlands living in Frankfurt, and botanical and zoological illustrations by Joris Hoefnagel, Pieter van der Borcht IV and Carolus Clusius (1525-1609) then being published in Frankfurt.  Related Paintings of Georg Flegel :. | Two Tulips | Stilleben mit Kerze | Still Life with Bread and Confectionery 7 | Two Tulips | Two Tulips |
Related Artists:
Sir John Gilbert,RA,PRWS
1817-1897
Christen Kobke
1810-1848 Danish Christen Kobke Galleries He lived in Kastellet until 1833 and made many paintings of the area. His painting "Gården ved bageriet i Kastellet" (ca. 1832) hangs in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen. In 1832 he shared a studio with friend, landscape painter Frederik Hansen Sødring. He painted a portrait of Sødring which now hangs in the Hirschsprung Collection. In 1834 he moved, along with his parents, outside of Copenhagen??s fortifications near Sortedamssøen, a lake area. He painted many views overlooking the lake towards the city and the embankments surrounding the city. His work becomes larger, more monumental. Like many of his contemporary artists he came under the influence of Niels Lauritz Høyen, art historian, who promoted a nationalistic art. Høyen called for artists to search for subject matter in the folk life of their country instead of searching for themes in other lands, such as Italy (which was at that time considered a requirement for an artist??s training). On a visit to Hillerod in 1835 he painted a romantic picture of Frederiksborg Palace, "Frederiksborg Slot ved Aftenbelysning" ("Frederiksborg Palace in the Evening Light"). At the end of 1837 he married Susanna Cecilie Kobke (1810-1849), and shortly afterwards painted a portrait of his young bride. One of the Small Towers on Frederiksborg Castle, c.1834-35.In 1838 he received a travel stipend from the Academy, left his new wife and traveled over Dresden and Munich to Italy accompanied by decorative painter Georg Hilker. They arrived in Rome by year??s end where he met brother-in-law Frederik Christopher Krohn, sculptor and medallionist, and many other Danish artists. He traveled, along with Constantin Hansen the following summer to Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii and Capri where he painted out in the open air. He returned home in 1840 with a large collection of sketches for later use and inspiration. Unfortunately, most his later work with these Italian themes was uninspired, and they found little favor. Kobke even considered at the time becoming a decoration painter, having participated in 1844-1845 in the decoration of the Thorvaldsens Museum, a museum dedicated to the artistic works of Bertel Thorvaldsen. Two years after his father died in 1843 the family sold the property outside Copenhagen, and Kobke moved back into the city. His application for admission to the Academy, which was accompanied by one of his failed Italian landscapes, was rejected in 1846. He died in 1848 of pneumonia, and is buried in Assistens Kirkegard. Kobke, a national romantic, painted portraits, landscapes and architectural paintings. Most of Kobke??s portraits show friends, family members and fellow artists. He found most of his motifs in his immediate surroundings. Now he is recognized internationally for his well composed and harmonic paintings, for their coloristic qualities and for his sense of the everyday life. But in his lifetime he was almost forgotten, especially because of his early death and limited production. Despite his talent and the praise of various contemporaries, Kobke had never been inundated with commissions. Kobke is recognized today as one of the most talented among Denmark??s Golden Age painters and the most internationally renowned Danish painter of his generation. The painterly interpretations he made of his surroundings stand as highpoints of the period. His works are in the collections of not only Danish museums but also such international museums as the J. Paul Getty Museum
Myles Birket Foster,RWS
1825-1899 English painter, illustrator and collector. After a short and unsatisfactory period working in the family brewing business, he was able to convince his Quaker parents to allow him to pursue a career in art. He was apprenticed to a wood-engraver, Ebenezer Landells (1808-60), who recognized Foster's talent for drawing and set him to work designing blocks for engraving. Foster also provided designs for Punch and the Illustrated London News. In 1846 he set up on his own as an illustrator. The rustic vignettes of the seasons that he contributed to the Illustrated London News and its counterpart, the Illustrated London Almanack, established him as a charming interpreter of the English countryside and rural life and led to his employment illustrating similar themes in other publications. During the 1850s his designs were much in demand; he was called upon to illustrate volumes of the poetry of Longfellow, Sir Walter Scott and John Milton.