Fritz von Uhde
1848–1911 · German genre and religious painter between Realism and Impressionism
Fritz von Uhde (Wolkenburg, Saxony, 1848 - Munich, 1911) was a German painter of genre and religious subjects, whose style lay between Realism and Impressionism. He matters chiefly as one of the first painters in his country to work en plein air, and for placing episodes from the Gospels in contemporary settings, among peasants, fishermen and working families.
He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden, but in 1866 he left his studies to join the army, where he became a riding instructor in a guard regiment. In 1876 he met the painter Hans Makart, who refused to take him as a pupil. In 1877 he moved to Munich, where he failed to gain admission to the studios of Piloty, Lindenschmit or Diez, and in 1879 he went to Paris, where he briefly worked under Mihály Munkácsy. In Munich and Paris he studied the Dutch old masters, whose dark chiaroscuro shaped his early work.
A journey to the Netherlands in 1882 brought a decisive change. He abandoned the dark chiaroscuro for a palette informed by the French Impressionists and, encouraged by Max Liebermann, turned to painting outdoors. His work was often rejected by the official critics and the public, who found its everyday subjects vulgar. Around 1890 he became a professor at the Munich Academy and a founding member of the Munich Secession, whose first president he became, and he later joined the Berlin Secession as well.
After his wife died in 1886 he painted his three daughters repeatedly in domestic scenes. His legacy is visible in Adolf Hölzel, who was influenced by him in his early work, and in much of the younger generation of German artists, who followed his move towards a luminous naturalism.
Works (3)
Oil on canvas from 1885 that, judging by its title, shows a moment of prayer before a meal in a domestic setting. Its large format lends an intimate scene a solemn tone. It is held at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin, where visitors can see it in person.
Genre painting by Fritz von Uhde, dated 1889 and executed in oil on canvas. Its title points to a young girl set in a heath, and the work centres on a child's figure within an open, rural-looking landscape. It is held by the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Without reference sources, finer details about its symbolism, commission or reception remain uncertain.
Where to see the work
- Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin · 2
- Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig · 1
Teachers and pupils
Studied with
- Mihály Munkácsy 1844–1900
Curiosities
Christ among the peasants
One of his best-known paintings, Come, Lord Jesus, be our Guest, shows Christ seated with a peasant family at a meal in a modern German farmhouse parlor. Some Catholics criticized it as a desecration of Christ, while others argued that by placing Christ among ordinary people here and now he had created a highly significant art. The controversy brought his work wide attention.
An unusual disciple
In his 1897 version of The Last Supper, now in the Stuttgart museum, Uhde included a portrait of the composer Anton Bruckner among the disciples, described as an unworldly man. It is one of the few cases in which a real contemporary appears identified within one of his biblical scenes.
Praised by Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh mentioned Uhde in his personal correspondence, showing that the Dutch painter knew his work. The critic Otto Julius Bierbaum, who prepared a biographical writing on him, said that as a painter of children Uhde was extraordinarily distinguished, depicting them not as charming dolls but with extreme and very strict naturalness.