Mathias J. Alten

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Self-portrait by Mathias Alten

Mathias Joseph Alten (born February 13, 1871 in Gusenburg , † March 8, 1938 in Grand Rapids , Michigan ) was a German-American Impressionist painter.

Life

Mathias Joseph Alten and his family emigrated from Saarland to the USA in 1889 , where they settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There Alten began training as a shield painter and set designer and was also trained in portrait painting by a local painter, Edward A. Turner . In 1899 he traveled to Europe, where he a. a. further trained in painting at the Académie Julian in Paris. After his return to the USA he settled in Grand Rapids again, where he achieved success as a portrait painter.

As a result, he also devoted himself to landscape painting. In the course of his career he visited and painted scenes a. a. in Old Lyme , Connecticut , Taos (New Mexico) as well as in Florida and in various places in Europe, u. a. in the Netherlands and Spain. From 1905 he was repeatedly invited to participate in important exhibitions, including a. at the National Academy in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago , the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Detroit Institute of Arts .

Towards the end of his life, Alten was considered the leading painter in Michigan. He died at his home at 1593 East Fulton Street in Grand Rapids, Michigan, aged 67. This home is now listed as a memorial on the National Register of Historic Places .

Web links

Commons : Mathias Alten  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter C. Merrill: German Immigrant Artists in America. A Biographical Dictionary, Lanham, Md & London 1997, p. 4
personal data
SURNAME Alten, Mathias J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alten, Mathias Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American impressionist painter
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Gusenburg
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1938
Place of death Grand Rapids , Michigan