Adolph Menzel

Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings and paintings, who lived from 1815 to 1905. First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel. Along with Caspar David Friedrich he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of the 19th century, and he was the most successful artist of his era in Germany. His popularity in his native country, owing especially to his history paintings, was such that few of his major paintings left Germany, as many were quickly acquired by museums in Berlin, while his graphic work and especially his drawings were more widely disseminated.