Like our site? Get our monthly newsletter!

The most honest art gallery in the world.

Highlights

Dusseldorf Art Academy in 19th Century Germany

19th Century Fine Art Legacy

“It is somewhat strange that Dusseldorf, the capital of the inconsiderable Duchy of Berg, in the Rhenish provinces of Prussia -- a town of little note, dignified by no historical- associations, situated on the monotonous flats of the Rhine, far below the region of its grandeur and enchantment, with nothing to boast of in the way of palaces, churches, theatres, or ruins-the great staples of continental cities-should, nevertheless, be the seat of a school of painting, perhaps the most conspicuous on the Continent, and which has aided in giving stability and strength to the most important movements in the history of modern Art.” (Cosmopolitan Art Journal, September 1857).

Germany of the nineteenth century was not the unified Germany of today. Unlike England and France, of the 1700s and 1800s, the German-speaking areas of Europe that would eventually become “Germany” were divided into hundreds of duchies, principalities, free cities, and ecclesiastical states, and these small states were loosely aligned at one time or another with the two largest states – Austria and Prussia. After Napolean’s defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the number of states was reduced to 40. An attempt in 1848, by scholars, bureaucrats, students, artist, journalists, and businessmen came close to realizing a united Germany; however, German unification was not achieved until 1871, and, without Austria. And, as most of you know, the history of German does not stop in 1871. But that’s not the story here, it only serves a backdrop to the history of the Düsseldorf Art Academy during the 1800s.

With all of the turmoil wrought by internal and external struggles, the art culture of the time was similarly disunited, with there being as Gottfried Lindemann said, "... varied and often contradictory artistic forms of the nineteenth century and the absence of a general continuous artistic development. Although there were just as many art academies as states and not a central German art identity, the disjointed nature of its culture could not be seen as a hindrance to its important contributions to art, especially painting. Kermit Champa, art historian, wrote in 1975 (in Deshmukh, 1983):

“No longer can all art movements and influences be traced to Paris. A surprising number of nineteenth century Americans, Englishmen, etc. chose Munich or Düsseldorf over Paris as the place to study painting abroad. And in Rome, the world capital of artistic pilgrimage, a street, Via de'gli Artisti was named after German, not French artists. Rather than acting as a backwater for French development, or a classically provincial phenomena, German painting constituted itself as a source. “

And the Düsseldorf Art Academy was to play a dominant role. Although the Academy dates back to 1773, it only gained dominance in the 1820s after having been reorganized 1819 after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 when the Rhineland (which includes Dusseldorf) and Westphalia were brought into Prussian territory. However, the Academy, by that time, had lost its instructors and art to Munich in 1805 and so lost ground had to be made up.

The renewal began in 1825, first with the appointment of Peter von Cornelius as director, followed by Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow (son of famous Prussian sculptor Wilhelm Johann Schadow) in 1826. With Schadow came some of his top students from Berlin (Karl Friedrich Lessing, Carl Wilhelm Hubner, Theodore Hildebrandt, Karl Ferdinand Sohn, and Eduard Bendemann) as instructors. Schadow was a brilliant organizer and an excellent teacher and, at least early on, tolerant of ideas different from his own. These attributes were what gave Dusseldorf, a town of less than 30,000 inhabitants, one of the best art schools in Europe within a short span of ten years.

The Dusseldorf Academy, unlike its counterparts in England, France, and Italy at that time, elevated landscape from its lower position within the “hierarchy of the genres” that was prevalent in European art academies since the seventeenth century. In this hierarchical scheme, advanced by French art historian André Félibien the 1600s and in the 1700s by English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds, history painting ranked at the top, followed by portraiture, genre, landscape, animal and still-life. One might have thought that Schadow would have stressed religious and history painting as he was a member of the Nazarenes, an early group of primarily German artists, who painted in Rome in the early 1800s, and derived their inspiration from Medieval and Renaissance paintings. But some of them, Schadow included, sought inspiration in nature. Under Schadow’s leadership, the Academy maintained a balance of history, landscape and genre painting. These paintings were much smaller than most religious and history paintings and were sized appropriately to adorn the walls of the homes of middle-class patrons, whose numbers were increasing along with the industrialization of the Rhineland around Dusseldorf.

The other European academies of this time were still stressing strict adherence to the “hierarchy of the genres”, while the Dusseldorf Academy added instruction in landscape painting in 1832, taught by landscape painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, a student of Lessing’s at the Academy. In 1847, Rudolph Wiegmann had introduced landscape painting as a separate class, a first for the curriculum of the academy. For this article I was most interested in the influence of the Academy on 19th century landscape painting. The landscape painting classes used the same rigorous instruction as that used in the instruction of portraiture and genre -- first copying from master drawings and paintings, and then drawing and painting from nature directly, “en plein air.” The late Paul Chew, Ph. D., Director Emeritus of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art sums up the importance of the Dusseldorf Art Academy in training of 19th century American and European landscape artists:

“The strength of the Dusseldorf Art Academy was in its flexible pictorial language based on natural observation of its ingenious teachers, all professionally trained and recognized talented painters. Careful and accurate drawing was the basis for a realistic approach to nature. The Academy insisted on the technique of chiaroscuro (the use of light and dark to achieve mass and dramatic three-dimensional effects).

Schadow left the Academy in 1859 -- the golden age of the Academy had reached its zenith. Dusseldorf, “a town of little note” had become known worldwide, first for its art academy and then only secondly as an industrial center. The Dusseldorf Academy was, indeed, responsible for giving stability and strength to the most important movements in the history of modern art.”

Written by Joan Hawk, Researcher and Co-Owner Bedford Fine Art Gallery, June 14, 2025.

Use only with the permission of Bedford Fine Art Gallery.

References:

----- Cosmopolitan Art Journal, Vol. 1, No. 5 (Sep., 1857), pp. 154-155; Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20487089; Accessed: 31-05-2025 15:18 UTC.

Chew, Paul, A., 1994, Geo. Hetzel and the Scalp Level Tradition, George Hetzel Retrospective and The Scalp level Artists Exhibition, 26 March – May 8, 1994, Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, Pa.

Deshmukh, Marion F., 1983, Between Tradition and Modernity: The Dusseldorf Art Academy in Early Nineteenth Century Prussia, in, German Studies Review, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Oct., 1983), pp. 439-473 (35 pages).

Lindemann, Gottfried, 1971, History of German Art, p. 131, Praeger, New York.

Back to Highlights

Jerry & Joan - Thanks for your hospitality and helping us find this beautiful new piece for our home. Until next time...

Adrienne & Jon W.
We accept:

230 South Juliana St.
Bedford PA 15522

Phone: 724-459-0612

All content and photos are copyrighted property of Bedford Fine Art Gallery, 19th century art dealer, Bedford PA and can not be reproduced or copied without consent.

Unsubscribe from our mailing list Privacy