Adolph von Menzel
* 08.12.1815 in Wrocław; ✝ 09.02.1905 in Berlin
Painter, Draughtsman, Illustrator, Honorary Citizen of Berlin and Breslau
Biography
Adolph Menzel began working at the early age of fourteen in the lithographic press owned by his father, and went on to direct it after the latter’s death in 1832. He attended the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts in 1833 and 1834, where he made the acquaintance, and won the support of, the wallpaper manufacturer, Carl Heinrich Arnold. His earliest works are illustrations and lithographs, of which he had produced 400 by 1842. His sketches for wood-cut illustrations to accompany Franz Kugler’s Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen made Menzel’s name as a historical specialist and expert on Frederick.
He honoured Shakespeare with the print Der Dichter Shakespeare, which took the Stratford bust as its inspiration. Von Menzel furthermore worked together with von Grützner and von Piloty on a collected volume of visual representations of Shakespeare drama (Shakespeare-Gallerie, 1886). As an oil-painter he distinguished himself with works such as The Balcony Room or the never-finished The Laying in State of the March Dead. The apotheosis of his artistic career was Adolf von Menzel’s eventual elevation to the aristocracy as a Knight of the Black Order.
Works
- Zeichnungen als Vorlagen für Holzschnitte zur Geschichte Friedrichs des Großen (1842).
- Das Balkonzimmer. Oil (1845).
- Die Tafelrunde Friedrich II. in Sanssouci. Oil (1850).
- Der Dichter Shakespeare. Wood-Cut (1852).
- Die Märzgefallenen. Oil (unfinished).
Literature
Primary Literature
- Shakespeare-Gallerie. With Eduard von Grützner and Karl von Piloty. Berlin, 1886.
Secondary Literature
- Busch, Werner: Adolph Menzel. Leben und Werk. Munich, 2004.
- Ehringhaus, Sibylle: 'Adolph Menzel und Weimar. Ein wiederentdecktes Shakespeare Bildnis', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 60:1 (1997). Pp. 1-11.
- Ehringhaus, Sibylle: 'Adolph Menzels Shakespeare und Weimar. Über Bildsprache in Zeiten der Zensur', Shakespeare-Jahrbuch, 135 (1999). Pp. 117-133.
- Jensen, Jens Christian: Adolph Menzel. Cologne, 2003.
- Lammel, Gisold: Adolph Menzel. Frideriziana und Wilhelmiana. Dresden, 1987.
Album pages with this person
Citation and Licence
Menzel, Adolph von, in: The Digital Shakespeare Memorial Album. Edited by Christa Jansohn. URI: http://www.shakespearealbum.de/uri/gnd/118580914. (Accessed on 04.11.2024)
This text is published under the following licence: CC BY-ND 3.0 DE. Digitzed media reproduced with the permission of the library of Birmingham.