4291 - Joseph Hülser, attributed, Romantic river landscape

Joseph Hülser, attributed, Romantic river landscape A late-summer view of a gently undulating mountainous landscape with gnarled deciduous trees; in the background, a monastery on a mountain ridge and a horseman by the river, beneath a dramatically cloudy sky, Bruckmann comments on this in the Encyclopaedia of the Düsseldorf School of Painting: ‘… He prefers to paint subjects from the Eifel and Lahn regions, … Atmospheric landscapes and tranquil forest views predominate.’ His connection to Schirmer’s school is evident not only in his choice of subjects and the traditional use of figurative elements and architectural motifs, but also in his detailed depiction of nature and his high-contrast use of light. Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter praised his paintings as pleasant and appealing, as in them ‘the cosy aspects of forest life also find their place’ (Müller v. Königswinter 1854). ...", glazed, partly lightly impasto landscape painting, oil on canvas, c. 1840, signed ‘J. Hülser’ lower right, signs of age, in an old frame, inner dimensions approx. 74 x 111.05 cm. Artist’s details: also erroneously spelt Hulser; German landscape painter (born in Kleinenbroich in 1816 or 1817; lived in Düsseldorf until 1850), initially trained as a chairmaker, woodturner and joiner; studied from 1832 to 1834 at the Sunday School of the Düsseldorf Academy under Ernst Carl Thelott; from 1835 to 1836 a pupil in Karl Friedrich Schäffer’s building trades class; in 1836 a pupil in the elementary class under Josef Wintergerst; 1837-42: a pupil in Johann Wilhelm Schirmer’s landscape painting class; in 1840, studied projection in the architecture class under Rudolf Wiegmann; in 1840, he took a leave of absence from his studies to undertake a study tour; among other things, he submitted works to the Leipzig Art Association in 1839 and the Berlin Academy Exhibition in 1844; in 1848, he was a founding member of the Düsseldorf artists’ association “Malkasten” and worked in Düsseldorf, Source: Thieme-Becker, Saur ‘Bio-Bibliographical Artists’ Encyclopaedia’, Boetticher, student registers of the Düsseldorf Academy, obituary in the ‘Düsseldorfer Zeitung’ and the ‘Düsseldorfer Journal und Kreis-Blatt’, Bruckmann, *Encyclopaedia of the Düsseldorf School of Painting*, the Düsseldorf Address Book and the internet.