German Realist Painter, 1844-1900 German painter, draughtsman and etcher. In 1861 he abandoned his apprenticeship as a locksmith in order to train as a precision instrument maker, though a month or so later he decided to train as an artist, at first under the Cologne history painter and writer Hermann Becker (1817-85). In 1863 he moved to Munich; he studied there from March 1864, at the Akademie der Bildenden K?nste, initially under Philipp von Foltz and Alexander Straehuber, drawing from plaster casts, and later in Hermann Ansch?tz's painting class. Here, Arthur von Ramberg (1819-75) stimulated Leibl's sensitivity to colour; and Karl Theodor von Piloty encouraged him to observe reality and incorporate its lessons boldly into compositions on historical themes. From the start, however, Leibl tended to think of his pictures in terms of form rather than content. While at the Akademie he first reached a standard of excellence with his draughtmanship, which is notable for its directness and objectivity. As an artist, Leibl's early works were not especially promising. However, as occurred throughout his career, a long period of mediocrity was crowned by an unexpected masterpiece, such as his portrait drawing of Aunt Josepha (c. 1864; Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Mus.). This is particularly striking for Leibl's use of the hands to add to the expression of the sitter's character and mood, a device he was to use frequently in later work. In Munich, Leibl supplemented the teaching of the Akademie by studying the works of the Old Masters in the Alte Pinakothek: he paid particular attention to painters of the Baroque period such as van Dyck, Cornelis de Vos and Rubens, and also to other great masters of portraiture such as Frans Hals and Vel?zquez. The presentation of the subject found in such works is reflected in Leibl's portrait of Frau Gedon (1869; Munich, Neue Pin.). When the work was shown at the Grossen Internationale Kunstausstellung in Munich in 1869 it was singled out as the best oil painting of the exhibition by Gustave Courbet and, as a result, Leibl was honoured with an invitation to Paris, where he arrived on 13 November 1869.  Related Paintings of Wilhelm Leibl :. | Portrait of Burgermeister Klein | Die Dorfpolitiker | The Veterinarian Dr Reindl in the Arbor (nn02) | Die junge Pariserin | The Poachers |
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Reuben Moulthrop
American portrait, miniature, wax sculptor b.1763-d.1814 American painter. As proprietor of a waxworks museum and travelling waxworks exhibition, he was interested in modelling in wax in his early years. While moving around his native state, he was exposed to several artistic influences, beginning with Winthrop Chandler. His earliest portraits seem to date from about 1788, when he completed Mr and Mrs Samuel Hathaway (1788; New Haven, CT, Colony Hist. Soc. Mus.). Its dark, heavy outlines, its flatness and almost geometric forms derive from Chandler. The quality of Moulthrop's paintings was extremely uneven; many of the best of the surviving body of about 50 works date from around 1800. The Rev. Thomas Robbins which depicts the sitter's direct gaze and contains more detail than the earlier portraits, shows the artist at his most accomplished. In the last years of his brief career he appears to have been influenced by William Jennys and John Durand,
MEYTENS, Martin van
Dutch painter (b. 1695, Stockholm, d. 1770, Vienna). was a Swedish-Austrian painter who has painted people of the royal Court of Austria such as Marie Antoinette, Maria Theresa of Austria, Francois III and his family, and many other royal paintings. His painting style has inspired many other painters to paint in a similar format. Martin van Meytens was born on June 16, 1695 and was later baptised in Stockholm, Sweden. He studied other great painter's works and in 1717 he had a great success in painting enamel paintings and miniatures, but later went on to greater task. In 1723 he began to paint large portraits of royal courts
Joseph Nigg
(born 13 October 1782 in Vienna) was an Austrian painter, with painting on porcelain a specialty. Flower Arrangement by Joseph NiggNigg studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna with Johann Baptist Drechsler. From 1800 to 1843, Nigg worked as a flower painter in a Viennese porcelain factory. Beginning in 1835, this post also involved holding classes in painting at the factory. With the advent of the Biedermeier Era, flower painting became immensely popular and was also to be found on large porcelain plaques. A piece of this sort, thirty inches in height, was presented by Nigg, on behalf of the Viennese factory, at the The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. In addition to working in porcelain, Nigg also created oil paintings, watercolors, and pastel drawings. Two of his paintings, "Grandmother's Bouquet I" and "Grandmother's Bouquet II" have found enduring popularity as poster and print reproductions. Nigg died in Vienna on September 19, 1863.