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Description
WATERCOLOR ON PAPER BY FAMOUS AMERICAN WESTERN ARTIST RICHARD LORENZ (1858-1915)
Born on a farm in Voigstaedt, Weimar, Germany, Richard Lorenz became a painter and illustrator of dramatic western scenes, especially of the Plains Indian culture and the consequences of encounters with the white man's civilization. His most famous pupil was Frank Tenney Johnson. He was also well known for panoramic painting and for depictions of horses, genre and landscapes.
As a young person in Germany, Lorenz determined to become a Biblical painter because he was fascinated by the subject of wandering, nomadic people in wilderness areas. He grew up in a village twenty-eight miles north of Weimar and at age 15, began art study in Weimar including at the Royal Academy of Arts, where his work was recognized with several distinguished prizes. One of those prizes was endowed by composer Franz Liszt, and another was the Karl Alexander Prize, which he won twice. It was the school's highest award. One of his most influential teachers was Heinrich Albert Brendel (1827-1895), famous European painter of animals, especially horses. Other teachers were landscapist Theodor Hagen (1842-1919) and portraitist Max Thedy (1858-1924).
In May 1886, Lorenz arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he established his career and lived for most of the remainder of his life. He has been described by an art historian of that city as "the most gifted German immigrant artist to settle in Milwaukee." (Merrill 66). Lorenz initially emigrated to Milwaukee at the request of William Wehner who had formed the American Panorama Company and then recruited German painters noted for their skills with religious and historical subjects. The resulting panoramas were huge lengthy canvases, some of them 25 X 350 feet. Lorenz worked on "The Battle of Atlanta", which became the company's most famous work. Lorenz specialized in horses, depicting them in every kind of activity and perspective.
From 1887 to 1890, he travelled and sketched in the West including Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and California. In 1887, he worked with August Lohr to install a panorama in San Francisco. While there he sketched scenes of Chinatown and Monterey. On this extensive trip, he went to the Crow Reservation, and from this experience, did his first Indian subjects inspired by stories he heard of the Sioux Massacre at Little Big Horn.
He returned to Milwaukee in December 1888 to replace Otto Von Ernst as Director of the Wisconsin School of Design, the new name for the old Milwaukee Art School. When Von Ernst returned from a one-year leave of absence, Lorenz stayed on as Assistant Director until the school closed in 1891. Later he taught at the Wisconsin School of Art maintained by the Milwaukee Art Students League, and in 1894, he established his own school, the Lorenz Art School.
During his teaching career, Lorenz continued his own fine-art painting. He frequently traveled West and was especially fascinated by storms of the Great Plains. He also did much regional painting around Wisconsin, where his trademark subject matter was panoramic landscape with unique lighting and a sense of an ever-expanding country. Milwaukee collectors found his work appealing, and it was widely exhibited. He also exhibited outside of Milwaukee including Munich in 1891, Paris Salon in 1901, Chicago World's Fair in 1893, the St. Louis Exposition of 1904, and regularly at the Art Institute of Chicago and in exhibitions sponsored by the Western Society of Artists.
On August 3, 1915, Lorenz died in MIlwaukee from a stroke suffered while walking near his home. His health had been declining and he suffered near blindness from cataracts. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Milwaukee.
During his lifetime, he was often compared to western painter Frederic Remington because he was an important recorder of western subjects for future generations. Although the reputation of Lorenz has not been as great as that of Remington, he made significant contributions through his own canvases and joint-project panoramas in enlightening Easterners of scenes of the American West.
Category
Paintings
Distinguishing marks
Lorenz
Condition
Excellent
Size and dimensions of this item
24" X 48"
Weight
8-10pounds
History
Bought at a estate sale from a man who pass away at the age of 92
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Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
I just purchased this same print 48 x 24 for $15. What is it's value? What do you have it priced at?
Joyce
Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
How much are you asking for this painting?
[email protected]
Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
I have this painting too. I am assuming that it is a copy as the frame looks the same as this one. I am wondering what the value is. It is sitting in storage. Thanks for any info. It was purchase in the 1960s.
Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
I have this exact same oil painting. i have had it in my family for three generations.
Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
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Re: Richard Lorenz "Woodland Path"
I have this painting too. Now here is where they all came from back in the late 50's into the 60's our mothers when they went to the stores or bought gas they got Blue stamps and Green Stamps. They would save these stanps in books one for green and one for blue, When they got the amount of books they were needing for what ever they were wanting then they would take them to the stores and get what they were saving for, Stamp stores I grew up with this one hanging in our living roon when I got married my mom passed it down to me and my girls grew up with it in our living room now one day it will be passed down to them. Mine is in mint condition just like it was the day my mom got it. Are any of them worth anything who knows, But this is how all these reprints came about.