Hans Thoma: German Semi- Pre-Raphaelite

Hans Thoma (1839-1924), according to some sources Germany's most popular artist around the turn of the 20th century, is difficult to characterize. Well, it's difficult for me. I used the label Pre-Raphaelite in the title of this post mostly because the feeling of a number of his works echoes that of the English group. But other works, especially those dealing with religious themes, might be termed Symbolist. Yet Pre-Raphaelite paintings often had large doses of what later became classed as Symbolism. Sigh: I find this taxonomy stuff frustrating, and should learn to leave that to professional art critics and curators.

Thoma's English Wikipedia entry is here, but for more information I suggest you click on the left-hand panel, select Deutsch, and have it translated if you don't know German. Otherwise, a bit more biographical information in English is here.

He was born in a small town in the Black Forest, far from from Munich and other art centers, and more than 30 years before Bismarck created a unified Germany. Yet he was able to work his way up from decorating cuckoo clocks (an important Black Forest product then and now) to eventually becoming a professor at the Grand Ducal Art School in Karlsruhe and director of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, the state art museum there.

Gallery

Self-Portrait with Love and Death - 1875
I suppose he had a reason for showing red paint on his brush, because almost no red can be found otherwise.

Self-Portrait - 1899
Painted when he was 60.

Taunus Landscape - 1890
The man and his dog in the foreground are overwhelmed by the rest of the painting, including much sky and its clouds.

Spätsommertag im Schwarzwald - Late Summer in the Black Forest - 1892
Here he was capturing the darkening leaves.

Spring - 1894
There are sheep with their owner's mark painted on them, a woman in the distance apparently doing some work, and some young people in the foreground.  These latter are jammed at the bottom of the canvas, the girl's dress and feet being clipped off, as is the left foot of the boy playing a fife.  Those figures and their activities (such as they are -- the girl seems bored) are somewhat hard to explain other than they might have been dragged there by the distant women and ordered to entertain themselves until she was done with whatever she was doing.

Diana Under the Tree
Diana was the goddess of animals as well as of hunting.

Frau mit Kind in der Hängematte, (Cella Thoma mit Nichte/Adoptivtochter Ella; das Motiv ist älter als das Bild) - Woman and Child in a Hammock (Cella Thoma with Adopted Daughter Ella; a Scene That Took Place Years Before) - 1896

Uncle Ludwig Maier - 1898
Interesting contrast between the craggy face and the smooth background.

The Flight into Egypt
Thoma painted a number of religious-themed works.

The Temptation of Christ

Hell