The painter Anselm Feuerbach (1829-1880) was one of the most important German painters in the second half of the 19th century. During his lifetime, his art was little noticed. Later generations only discovered the great importance of the German artist. Anselm Feuerbach was the son of the archaeologist Joseph Anselm Feuerbach and grandson of the jurist Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach. He was born in Speyer on September 12, 1829. He lost his mother when he was still a child and grew up with his grandparents in Ansbach. After his father married the writer Henriette Heydenreich, Feuerbach returned to his parental home. He attended grammar school in Freiburg and received his first drawing lessons from an anatomist at the Albert Ludwig University. Henriette Feuerbach exerted great influence on the painter and actively encouraged him. He left the Gymnasium early and went to Düsseldorf to study at the art academy. His teachers were Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, Wilhelm von Schadow and Karl Ferdinand Sohn. Feuerbach also maintained contact with the romantic history painter Alfred Rethel.
Later, Anselm Feuerbach moved to Munich. There he was strongly influenced by the artist Carl Rahl from Austria. His years of wandering took him to Antwerp in 1850, where he studied with the Belgian Gustave Wappers. In 1851 he went to Paris, devoted himself to the masters of modern art, and worked in the workshop of Thomas Couture. During his time in Paris he painted "The Death of Pietro Aretino", one of his most famous works. The painting clearly reveals Couture's influence and Feuerbach's incipient interest in the Venetian style. It is disputed among experts whether he had contact with Édouard Manet in Paris. It is considered certain that he studied works by Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet and Pierre Etienne Theodore Rousseau. After the death of his father, Anselm Feuerbach moved to Heidelberg. From here he undertook a study trip to Italy together with Joseph Victor von Scheffel. In Venice he painted a copy of Titian's "Assumption." In Rome Feuerbach had a passionate affair with his model Anna Risi, alias Nanna, who was also a valued muse to him. It was also here that he met his later biographer Julius Allgeyern.
Count von Schack acquired eleven of his paintings and was for a time a patron of the artist. Feuerbach received a professorship in Vienna. With his idiosyncratic classicist-romantic style of painting, however, he had only moderate success at the time. In the last years of his life he suffered from health problems and undertook many journeys. Originally he painted the monumental painting "Titanensturz" (Fall of the Titans) for the newly designed auditorium of the Vienna Academy of Arts. However, a dispute arose with the architect Theophil Hansen and Feuerbach finally completed the work in exile in Italy. On January 4, 1880, Anselm Feuerbach died in Venice. His stepmother took care of his estate and thus contributed significantly to the great posthumous fame of the artist who died young.
The painter Anselm Feuerbach (1829-1880) was one of the most important German painters in the second half of the 19th century. During his lifetime, his art was little noticed. Later generations only discovered the great importance of the German artist. Anselm Feuerbach was the son of the archaeologist Joseph Anselm Feuerbach and grandson of the jurist Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach. He was born in Speyer on September 12, 1829. He lost his mother when he was still a child and grew up with his grandparents in Ansbach. After his father married the writer Henriette Heydenreich, Feuerbach returned to his parental home. He attended grammar school in Freiburg and received his first drawing lessons from an anatomist at the Albert Ludwig University. Henriette Feuerbach exerted great influence on the painter and actively encouraged him. He left the Gymnasium early and went to Düsseldorf to study at the art academy. His teachers were Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, Wilhelm von Schadow and Karl Ferdinand Sohn. Feuerbach also maintained contact with the romantic history painter Alfred Rethel.
Later, Anselm Feuerbach moved to Munich. There he was strongly influenced by the artist Carl Rahl from Austria. His years of wandering took him to Antwerp in 1850, where he studied with the Belgian Gustave Wappers. In 1851 he went to Paris, devoted himself to the masters of modern art, and worked in the workshop of Thomas Couture. During his time in Paris he painted "The Death of Pietro Aretino", one of his most famous works. The painting clearly reveals Couture's influence and Feuerbach's incipient interest in the Venetian style. It is disputed among experts whether he had contact with Édouard Manet in Paris. It is considered certain that he studied works by Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet and Pierre Etienne Theodore Rousseau. After the death of his father, Anselm Feuerbach moved to Heidelberg. From here he undertook a study trip to Italy together with Joseph Victor von Scheffel. In Venice he painted a copy of Titian's "Assumption." In Rome Feuerbach had a passionate affair with his model Anna Risi, alias Nanna, who was also a valued muse to him. It was also here that he met his later biographer Julius Allgeyern.
Count von Schack acquired eleven of his paintings and was for a time a patron of the artist. Feuerbach received a professorship in Vienna. With his idiosyncratic classicist-romantic style of painting, however, he had only moderate success at the time. In the last years of his life he suffered from health problems and undertook many journeys. Originally he painted the monumental painting "Titanensturz" (Fall of the Titans) for the newly designed auditorium of the Vienna Academy of Arts. However, a dispute arose with the architect Theophil Hansen and Feuerbach finally completed the work in exile in Italy. On January 4, 1880, Anselm Feuerbach died in Venice. His stepmother took care of his estate and thus contributed significantly to the great posthumous fame of the artist who died young.
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