biographie de Henry MOSLER (1841-1920)

Birth place: NYC

Death place: NYC

Addresses: NYC; Cincinnati, OH, 1851-61, 1874; Margaretville, NY (1894-on)

Profession: Painter

Studied: James H. Beard, in Cincinnati, 1859-61; in Düsseldorf with H. Mücke & A. Kindler, 1863-65; in Paris with E. Hébert; von Wagner and von Piloty, in Munich, 1874.

Exhibited: NAD, 1868-1900 (9 annuals); Royal Acad., Munich, 1874 (medal); Paris Salon, 1878-85, (hon. men., 1879), PAFA Ann., 1879, 1883; 1887-89, (gold medal, 1888) 1891-94, 1897; Brooklyn AA, 1883-84; Int. Exh., Nice, 1884 (gold medal); Prize Fund Exh., NYC, 1885 (prize); Industrial Expo. Cincinnati, 1887; Paris Expo, 1889 (silver medal); Vienna Exh., 1890 (gold medal); AIC, 1894-1913; Atlanta Expo, 1895 (gold); NAD, 1885 (solo), 1895 (Clark prize); AC Phila., 1897 (gold); Charleston Expo, 1901 (gold); AAS, 1907 (gold); Cincinnati AG, c.1990 (retrospective)

Member: Associated Artists of Cincinnati; NAC; SC; Artists Fund Soc.; Chevalier Legion of Honor, 1892; Officer d'Académie, 1892.

Work: MMA; CGA; Cincinnati AM; TMA; PAFA; MusÈe Luxembourg, Paris; Springfield (MA) Mus. FA; J.B. Speed Mus.; Mus. Beaux-Arts, Grenoble, France; Mus. d"Orsay, Paris

Comments: The son of Jewish immigrants, his family moved to Cincinnati in 1851. His first success came in 1861-63 as an illustrator for Harper's Weekly, when traveling with the Army of the West. He then studied in Düsseldorf and Paris, returning to Cincinnati in 1866 as a successful portraitist. In 1874, he returned to Munich, and in 1877 established a studio in Paris. There he earned an international reputation for his genre scenes of peasant life in Brittany and Normandy. His narrative painting, "The Return," shown at the Salon of 1879, was the first picture by an American purchased by the French Govt. (Luxembourg Mus.). He moved to NYC in 1894. Cf. Henry Mosler, Jr., who was listed by Groce & Wallace; it appears that they are one and the same artist, but as G&W listed the birthplace as Indiana, there is some uncertainty.

Sources: WW19; Groce & Wallace; exh. cat., Cincinnati AG (n.d., c.1990); Cincinnati Painters of the Golden Age, 86-88 (gives New York as birthplace); Fink, Am. Art at the 19th C. Paris Salons, 189-90, 204, 373-74; Gerdts, vol. 2, 196; Falk, Exh. Record Series

Réserves Légales