Hermann Prell
Hermann Prell (April 29, 1854 – May 18, 1922) was a German history painter and sculptor.
Life and work
He was born at Leipzig and studied under Theodor Grosse in Dresden and Karl Gussow in Berlin, then went to Italy to study fresco painting with Hans von Marées, in which style he produced the bulk of his works.
Most notable are:
- Eleven murals symbolizing the "Principal Epochs in the History of Architecture" (1881–82, Banquet Hall, Architects' Union, Berlin)
- "Justice" and "Valor" and "Henry IV Granting Privileges to Worms in 1074" (City Hall, Worms)
- Cycles of historic episodes and allegorical scenes, respectively, in the city halls at Hildesheim (1888–91) and Danzig (1896) and over the staircase of the Breslau Museum (1894)
- Mythological scenes and sculptures in the Albertinum (1901–05) and the City Hall, Dresden (1908–12), and a frieze with subjects from Norse mythology in the throne room of the German Embassy in Rome.
Prell was a teacher at the Prussian Academy of Art from 1886 to 1892, when he was appointed a Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. He remained there until hi retirement in 1914. He ranks as one of the foremost German historical painters of his time. He is especially known for his successful use of casein colors in fresco. In later life, he executed sculptures. He maintained a studio in a villa on the banks of Elbe from 1897 until his death in Loschwitz in 1922.
Many of his works, especially his easel paintings, were destroyed during the fire-bombing of Dresden in 1945.
Sources and further reading
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Prell, Hermann". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. - Hartwig Fischer: Ein Wilhelminisches Gesamtkunstwerk auf dem Kapitol. Hermann Prell und die Einrichtung des Thronsaals in der Deutschen Botschaft zu Rom 1894–1899. Hamburg 1998.
- Christel Wünsch: Hermann Prell. In: Die Kunst hat nie ein Mensch allein besessen. Dreihundert Jahre Akademie der Künste und Hochschule der Künste Berlin. Catalog of the Berlin Art Academy, 1996, S. 317–319.
- Adolf Rosenberg: Prell. Bielefeld 1901
- Galland, Georg: Hermann Prell; fresken, skulpturen und tafelbilder des meisters, Charlottenburg, Amelang’sche kunsthandlung 1904
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