Julius Garibaldi Melchers (1860-1932). A survey of his Dutch paintings with emphasis on his religious works.
Item
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Title
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Julius Garibaldi Melchers (1860-1932). A survey of his Dutch paintings with emphasis on his religious works.
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Identifier
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AAI9108148
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identifier
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9108148
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Creator
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Mesman, George.
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Contributor
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Adviser: William H. Gerdts
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Date
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1990
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History | Fine Arts
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Abstract
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The American painter Julius Garibaldi ("Gari") Melchers, the son of a German emigrant artist, achieved a fame in his own lifetime which faded after his death. He exhibited in major European cities and earned numerous prizes at international expositions in Europe and America. He received honorary titles and was professor at the Weimar Grand Ducal Academy, 1909-1915.;The focus of this dissertation is Melchers' religious pictures, of which no prior study exists. These works were executed ca. 1890-1905 and were unusual considering Melchers' reputation as a peasant and bourgeois genre painter.;Chapter I opens with a biographical sketch of Melchers' father, Julius Theodore (1829-1909), a respected Detroit sculptor and woodcarver, under whose tutelage Melchers' artistic talents first emerged. Melchers' formal training at the Dusseldorf Royal Academy, his subsequent studies at the Academie Julian in Paris, and his first success at the Salon exhibition of 1882 with The Letter are described.;Chapter II mentions Melchers' artistic relationship with the American painter George Hitchcock (1850-1913) who convinced him to live in Egmond, where he remained from 1884 until 1909. The contemporary Hague and Laren Schools are briefly examined, and Melchers' Egmond works are viewed in the context of these movements. Examples from each of his categories of paintings from his expatriate years are discussed, with comparative comments on works by contemporary Dutch and German painters. Emphasis is placed on Melchers' successful church genre works, which may have led him to attempt purely religious works.;In Chapter III, the strong German religious art movement during the second half of the 19th century is surveyed. Through reference to such art and contemporary commentary, the reasons behind Melchers' undertaking The Nativity, The Last Supper, and Supper at Emmaus are discussed. Important influences were his heritage and Dusseldorf education. Two of his instructors were well-known Late Nazarene artists, and another, Eduard von Gebhardt, was then the premier German interpreter of religious themes. Melchers also increasingly turned to Germany to exhibit and sell his paintings during his Egmond period. Analyses of Melchers' major religious paintings are presented, and comparisons drawn with similar works by Gebhardt and Fritz von Uhde, the most noted German artist of the period.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
