Male Nude Walking

Anselm Feuerbach prints bring the calm grandeur of classical antiquity into your home: solemn women gazing out to sea, Medea with her children, Plato's Symposium and the dark beauty of his model Nanna. Feuerbach was the leading German Neoclassical painter of the nineteenth century, who spent his best years in Rome studying the Italian masters. Our collection of fine art prints includes his classical figures, portraits, landscapes and drawings.

About Anselm Feuerbach

Anselm Feuerbach was born in Speyer on 12 September 1829, the son of an archaeologist and grandson of a famous legal scholar; his birthplace is now a small museum. He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1845 to 1848, then in Munich and Antwerp, and from 1851 to 1854 in Paris with Thomas Couture, where he painted his first masterpiece, Hafiz at the Fountain.

In 1854, funded by the Grand Duke of Baden, he went to Venice, where the great colourists made a deep impression on him, and then to Florence and Rome. He stayed in Rome until 1873. From 1861 the beautiful Anna Risi, known as Nanna, was his model, followed from 1866 by Lucia Brunacci, who posed for his Medea. The collector Count Adolf Friedrich von Schack became an important patron.

In 1873 he moved to Vienna as professor of history painting at the Academy, where he taught Ludwig Deutsch and Rudolf Ernst and befriended Johannes Brahms. After a dispute over his ceiling for the Academy he resigned in 1877 and moved to Venice, where he died on 4 January 1880. Brahms composed Nänie in his memory.

Style and Subjects

Feuerbach's paintings are calm, serious and dignified. His figures, usually women from myth or history, stand or sit in quiet, statuesque poses, often gazing into the distance, with the noble simplicity of classical sculpture.

His colours are rich but restrained, influenced by the Venetian masters: deep reds, dark greens and warm flesh tones against grey skies or classical landscapes. His portraits of Nanna and his landscapes have the same mood of quiet melancholy.

Famous Works

• The Death of Pietro Aretino (1854), Kunstmuseum Basel. An early history painting from his Paris years.
• Nanna (1861), Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. His beloved Roman model, with her dark hair and solemn beauty.
• Ricordo di Tivoli (1867), Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Two children making music in the Italian countryside.
• Medea (1870), Neue Pinakothek, Munich. The sorceress with her children on the shore before her terrible revenge.
• Battle of the Amazons (1870), Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. A vast classical battle scene.
• Iphigenia (1871), Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. The Greek princess gazing out to sea, longing for home.
• The Symposium (second version) (1871–1874), Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Plato's banquet, with Alcibiades arriving among the philosophers.

Decorating with Feuerbach Prints

Feuerbach's classical women suit formal rooms with height and calm: a living room, dining room or stairwell with deep colours and gilt or dark frames. Nanna or On the Seashore (Modern Iphigenia) makes a quietly powerful focal point.

His Italian landscapes and children, such as Ricordo di Tivoli, bring a gentler mood to a bedroom or reading room, and his drawings make a refined group for a study.

FAQ

Who was Anselm Feuerbach?

Anselm Feuerbach was a German painter who lived from 1829 to 1880. He was the leading Neoclassical painter of the nineteenth-century German school.

Who was Nanna?

Anna Risi, known as Nanna, was a Roman woman who was Feuerbach's model from 1861 to about 1865. She appears in many of his best-known paintings.

Who taught Feuerbach?

He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy, in Munich and Antwerp, and in Paris with Thomas Couture.

What was Feuerbach's connection to Brahms?

He befriended Johannes Brahms in Vienna, and after Feuerbach's death Brahms composed Nänie, for chorus and orchestra, in his memory.

Where can I see Feuerbach's paintings?

Major works are in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum and the Kunstmuseum Basel.

Related Artists

• Thomas Couture: his teacher in Paris
• Johann Wilhelm Schirmer: his teacher at the Düsseldorf Academy
• Ludwig Deutsch: his student in Vienna
• Rudolf Ernst: his student in Vienna
• Ferdinand Keller: painter who shared his studio in Rome