08.12.1815 – 09.02.1905

Today marks 200 years since the birth of the German painter and graphic artist Adolf von Menzel. He was born in Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland), but in 1830 the family moved to Berlin. The first steps in art the future artist made under the guidance of his father – he owned a lithographic studio. For half a year he attended painting classes at the Berlin Academy of Arts, but his early death did not allow his father to complete his education, already in 1833 Adolf von Menzel became virtually the breadwinner of the family.

In Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century, fragmented into small principalities, great social transformations were brewing, which resulted in the revolution of 1848. This period of social progress, which Heine called “in the spring,” in the fine arts was expressed in the struggle for the formation of national realistic art. The greatest importance in the development of realism in Germany was the Berlin art school.

In his paintings, Menzel sings the beauty of everyday life, very realistically and even a little detached, fixes the life and life of their models, whether they are workers (“At the construction site”, “Masons at the construction site”, “Leaf for Heckmann”) or courtiers (“Break between dances “,” Lunch at the ball “).

The graphic heritage of Menzel, probably never parted with a pencil, is huge: only the National Gallery in Berlin stores over five thousand of his drawings. He worked in various techniques, and along with preparatory drawings, Menzel has many graphic works that are of independent significance.

Engaged in Adolf Menzel and book illustration, having played a significant role in the development of the art of the German book of the XIX century. Particularly worthy of note is the enormous work of the artist in illustrating the “History of Frederick the Great” F. Kugler, for which he created four hundred drawings. These works not only influenced the rise of national identity, but also influenced the addition of the aesthetic stylistics of the Russian art association “World of Art”.

The art of Menzel was recognized far beyond Germany. The largest Russian critic V. Stasov called him “one of the greatest artists”.