Anton Burger
1824–1905 · German painter, draftsman and etcher
Anton Burger (born in Frankfurt in 1824, died in Kronberg in 1905) was a German painter, draftsman and etcher. He is best known for his role in the artists' colony at Kronberg, which he co-founded, and for a career that spanned many genres.
Burger trained at the Städelschule in Frankfurt from 1842 to 1846, where his teachers included Johann Jakob Jung, Jakob Becker and Philipp Veit, who advised him to go to Munich. He spent two years there before returning. In 1853 he travelled to Paris with friends and met Camille Corot and Gustave Courbet. A trip to Antwerp and Amsterdam in 1859 left a strong impression of the Old Masters on him.
In 1861 he founded the Kronberg Artists' Colony with Jakob Fürchtegott Dielmann, an old friend from the Städelschule, and he lived there until his death. He was a prolific, versatile painter. His pictures sold well, so well that owning a "Burger" in the Kronberg region was seen as a sign of good taste. In 1894 he was appointed Royal Prussian Professor.