Adolf von Becker

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Adolf von Becker
Daniel Nyblin - Portrait photograph of Adolf von Becker.jpg
Born(1831-08-14)14 August 1831
Died23 August 1909(1909-08-23) (aged 78)
Known for Painting

Adolf von Becker (14 August 1831 – 23 August 1909) was a Finnish genre painter and art professor of German descent. He was one of the first Finnish artists to study in Paris, who taught many of the young artists of the Golden Age of Finnish Art. [1] [2]

Contents

Biography

Becker was born in Helsinki, where he began his artistic studies at the newly founded Finnish Art Society Drawing School; he also studied law. In 1853, he completed his law degree and became a trainee at the Court of Appeals in Turku. While there, he continued to make drawing expeditions into the countryside and made the acquaintance of Robert Wilhelm Ekman, who encouraged him to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He took Ekman's advice and graduated there in 1856. [3]

Self-Portrait, 1860s Adolf von Becker - Self-Portrait - A II 1107 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg
Self-Portrait, 1860s

In 1858, he received a recommendation to study with Thomas Couture in Paris, but was overwhelmed by the huge cosmopolitan city and left to enroll at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf instead. The course of study proved to be disappointing however, so he returned to Paris to try again. [3] When Couture closed his teaching studios in 1860, Becker applied to and was accepted at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied with Felix-Joseph Barrias, Ernest Hébert, Leon Cogniet and Leon Bonnat.

In 1864, he travelled to Spain on a scholarship and made copies of the Old Masters in Madrid. Later, he visited Italy and, on his return to France, he rented a studio outside Paris from Alfred Wahlberg, who he had met in Düsseldorf. In 1868, he returned to Finland to take a position at the University of Helsinki drawing school; replacing the late Magnus von Wright. [3] He was appointed a Professor there in 1879.

Private teacher

Meanwhile, in 1872, he had started his own private drawing school. He was known as a very strict teacher. Studies there were however interrupted by his frequent travels. Among his best-known students were Albert Edelfelt, Helene Schjerfbeck, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Helena Westermarck and Akseli Gallen-Kallela. [4]

As the 19th century drew to a close, he came under increasing criticism from the younger generation of artists for being too conservative. This came to a head at the Exposition Universelle in 1889, when the older generation, represented by Becker, Walter Runeberg and Berndt Lindholm, came into open confrontation with a younger faction led by Ville Vallgren and Albert Edelfelt. Soon after, disagreements developed between him and the Finnish Art Association  [ fi ] and he began to exhibit independently.

Portrait sketch by Albert Edelfelt Albert Edelfelt - Portrait of Adolf von Becker the Painter - A II 1577 - Finnish National Gallery.jpg
Portrait sketch by Albert Edelfelt
Portrait by William Gromme [fi], 1901 Adolf von Becker by William Gromme.jpg
Portrait by William Gromme  [ fi ], 1901

He retired from the University in 1892 and returned to Paris. [3] As he grew older, he found the winters there too cold, so he moved to Nice in 1904. He died while vacationing in Vevey, Switzerland, aged 78. [1]

Works

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akseli Gallen-Kallela</span> Finnish painter (1865–1931)

Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national identity. He finnicized his name from Gallén to Gallen-Kallela in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Edelfelt</span> Finnish painter

Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt was a Finnish painter noted for his naturalistic style and Realist approach to art. He lived in the Grand Duchy of Finland and made Finnish culture visible abroad, before Finland gained full independence. He was considered the greatest Finnish artist of the second half of 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, and one of the most prominent contributors to the Golden Age of Finnish Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Nicolai Arbo</span> Norwegian painter (1831–1892)

Peter Nicolai Arbo was a Norwegian historical painter, who specialized in portraits and allegorical scenes from Norwegian history and the Norse mythology. He is most noted for The Wild Hunt of Odin, a dramatic motif based on the Wild Hunt legend and Valkyrie, which depicts a female figure from Norse mythology.

The Düsseldorf School of painting is a term referring to a group of painters who taught or studied at the Düsseldorf Academy roughly between 1819 and 1918, first directed by the painter Wilhelm von Schadow.

Events from the year 1909 in art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Emanuel Jansson</span>

Karl Emanuel Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish painter, primarily of genre scenes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnus von Wright</span> Swedish-Finnish painter

Magnus von Wright was a Swedish-Finnish painter and educator. In addition to bird illustrations, he was also known for his landscapes. He was one of the four sibling von Wright artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret</span> French painter

Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret was a French painter, one of the leading members of the naturalist school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Berndtson</span> Finnish painter

Gunnar Fredrik Berndtson was a painter from the Grand Duchy of Finland who was noted for his attention to realistic detail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferdinand von Wright</span> Finnish painter

Ferdinand von Wright was a Finnish painter - He is best known for his landscapes and animal paintings, especially his detailed depictions of birds, but he also created still-lifes and portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berndt Godenhjelm</span>

Berndt Abraham Godenhjelm was a Finnish painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Runeberg</span> Finnish sculptor

Walter Magnus Runeberg was a Finnish neo-classical sculptor. He was the son of Finnish national epic poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Wiik</span> Finnish painter (1853–1928)

Maria Catharina Wiik was a Finnish painter. She worked principally with still life, genre images, landscape paintings and portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berndt Lindholm</span> Finnish painter (1841–1914)

Berndt Adolf Lindholm was a Finnish landscape painter. He is usually associated with the Düsseldorf School, but his work also displays early Impressionist elements. He specialized in coastal scenes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Johan Löfgren</span> Finnish-Swedish painter

Erik Johan Löfgren was a Finnish-Swedish portrait painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilda Flodin</span> Finnish painter, sculptor, and visual artist (1877–1958)

Hilda Flodin was a Finnish artist. She worked in a variety of media, but in the first part of her career primarily sculpture and etchings, later primarily painting, especially portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Wengberg</span> Swedish painter (1865–1936)

Anna Emelia Elisa Wengberg (1865–1936) was a Swedish painter specializing in portraits, who was a member of the Önningeby artists colony on the Finnish island of Åland. Her works are in the collections of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm and the Helsingborg Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Schill</span> German painter

Adolf Schill, often also Adolph Schill, was a German architect, interior designer, artisan, illustrator and painter of the historism. As a university lecturer he worked at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1880 and 1911, thus helping to shape the later phase of the Düsseldorf school of painting. Students of sculpture also studied with him.

<i>Self-Portrait</i> (Ellen Thesleff) 1895 drawing by Ellen Thesleff in the Ateneum, Finnish National Gallery

Self-Portrait is a pencil and sepia ink on paper drawing by Finnish artist Ellen Thesleff (1869–1954) created from 1894 to 1895. It is one of nine early works produced from 1890 to 1905, sometimes referred to as her "natural" period. The drawing is believed to have been influenced by spiritualism and Symbolism, an art movement popular in France at the fin de siècle. Thesleff uses a restrained, ascetic palette devoid of color to depict her likeness, which is interpreted as both introspective and transcendent. It is held by the Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum art museum, in Helsinki.

References

  1. 1 2 Reitala, Aimo (20 October 2002). "Becker, Adolf von (1831 - 1909)". Kansallisbiografia. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. Penttilä, Tiina (2002). Adolf von Becker: Pariisin tien viitoittaja (Paving the Road to Paris). Helsinki: Museovirasto. ISBN   9789516160835.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Adolf von Becker". Lähteillä.
  4. Vainio-Kurtakko, Maria (2022). Ett gott parti : Scener ur Ellan de la Chapelles och Albert Edelfelts liv (in Swedish). Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. ISBN   978-951-583-557-4.