Have you ever had the experience seeing a remarkable work of art and after reading the name of the artist, wondering “Why haven’t I ever heard of her before?!”
This happens to me all the time. As I travel around the world to major and provincial museums, attend auctions, and visit private collections, I see astounding masterpieces by artists whose anonymity defies the quality of their work. I write down their names and do my best to find out who they are. Often I learn that these sculptors and painters are well known to seemingly everyone but me. But, in some cases, I find that there is little known about them. I call these artists “Forgotten Masters.” And I have a list of more than 300 so far.
These artists range from the fourteenth century to the present. Some are the equivalent of one-hit wonders — making an award-winning work and never quite reaching that level again. But many were consistently skilled and hugely influential. They have been left out of the standard narrative of the history of art through various circumstances (e.g. dying young, working in provinces, becoming teachers, being out of step with the zeitgeist, or being women).
Last year, I gave a lecture series on the development and careers of several well-established Old Masters. The lectures were attended in person by professional artists, who added their remarkable perspectives to my art-historical approach. We recorded several of these and put them online. (You can access them here.) Some of these online recordings were visited more than 150,000 times.
This Fall, when our lecture series begins again, rather than revisit the careers of well-researched artists whose works have been examined and broadcast many times — and for good reason — my plan is to bring much needed attention to these Forgotten Masters. Because these artists are, by definition, difficult to find in museums, online, or libraries, I would like to create a collaboration between me, those who are attending the lectures, and anyone who wishes to participate online.
I WANT YOUR LIST TOO
I have narrowed my list of 300+ to about 50 names. But I know that my list is probably woefully incomplete. If you have thoughts on how it can improve, Please:
- Look through the list
- Tell me who I have missed. (Put their names in the comments or send me an email.)
- Berate me if I have included anyone unworthy of the list.
- Share the list with others who you think will be interested.
THE BEGINNING OF A CONVERSATION
Once we have a good amount of feedback and a solid list, I will start working on the lectures. Each lecture will discuss a Forgotten Master, his or her training, major works, influence, and place within the well-remembered artists of the time. Each lecture will be recorded, put online and accompanied by a post on BeardedRoman.com. These posts will be a major resource, where those who have additional information relating to the artist can share their findings.
SOME BACKGROUND
About ten years ago, I posted a few Forgotten-Master-themed posts on Bearded Roman. (You can see them here). By far, they have been the most visited posts on this site and are still the top links for Google searches for each of those artists. In particular, the post about Hugues Merles (French, 1823-1881) led to lively discussions online and off, and to one exhibition.
Over time, I hope that the artists we select together will be better known and that we can provide a resource for future studies.
DISCLAIMER
You may recognize some of the names on this list. Some of them may be well known to you or the larger world for a single work of art; but, unknown for the rest of their oeuvre or other contributions.
My criteria for being “forgotten” is no major catalogue or exhibition in the last 50 years OR not being discussed outside a small region (i.e. many artists are well known within their small community; but, little or no information appears outside of their native language).
My criteria for being a “master” is less scientific. It depends on whether or not their work is exceptional compared to their peers (e.g. fellow artists, collectors, critics) and whether or not their work had a lasting influence on others.
THE LIST
Click on the green dot next to each artist’s name for my one-sentence description of the artist and a link to a representative work of art.
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Micah, your list is fantastic! I’m not familiar with all of the artists on the list, but I’m excited to familiarize myself with them. I’m glad that you included Charles Gleyre! He’s on of my favorites.
Here are a few more names to consider,
Sir W Hamo Thornycroft 1850-1925
Zinaida Serebriakova 1884-1967
Puvis de Chavannes 1824-1898
George Frederick Watts 1817-1904
Jacopo Sansovino 1486-1570
Loenardo Bistolfi 1859-1933
Francesco Jerace 1853-1937
And I’m not sure if you would consider him a forgotten master, but I’ll put him down any way
Ivan Kramskoy 1837-1887
Michael
To revive these forgotten masters is really a great idea.
Here in germany it is escpecially striking,
because there is so much lost during the war and up to date
there is no lobby for the salon artists of the 19 century.
A few artist i would like to add:
+ Jehan Georges Vibert (French 1840-1902), the master of anti-clerical art. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehan_Georges_Vibert
+ Karl Theodor von Piloty (German 1826-1886), teacher of many famous pupils , Makart, Lenbach, Defregger and so on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_von_Piloty
+ Henriette Browne (French 1829 – 1901), the following painting is one of the most impressive i have seen in person. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Henriette_Browne#/media/File:Browne,_Henriette_-_The_Sisters_of_Mercy_-_1859.JPG
+ Charles Frederick Goldie (New Zealand 1870-1947), master of maori portraits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._F._Goldie
+ Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (Austrian 1793 – 1865), an early master of light with a polarizing personality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Georg_Waldm%C3%BCller
I forgot two:
# Ludwig Deutsch (Austrian 1855 – 1935), the great orientalist painter whose live is vastly unknown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Deutsch
# Gustav Bauernfeind (German 1848 – 1904) a self taught master of oriental scences. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Bauernfeind
Emile friant
Kenyon cox
Harold speed
Jules lefevbre
Annie swynnerton
Ramon casas
Abram arkhipov
Frank benson
Edmund Tarbell
John white Alexander
Jules lepage
Johan vibert
Thomas Lawrence
Hebert draper
Solomon j Solomon
Leon Perrault
George clausen
PS kroyer
Leon l’hermitte
Sorry. I guess a few have had recent exhibitions/catalogues. I’d love to hear about Kenyon cox. And Harold speed, since he so beloved for his books. Emile friant too
Hello Mr Christensen,
I’ve got a couple of artists for the list:
Joseph-Benoit Suvée (1743-1807, Flemish Neo-Classicist)
Francois-Joseph Kinson (1770-1839, Flemish court painter of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Jacob van Oost the Elder (1603-1671, Flemish Baroque)
Jacob van Oost the Younger (1639-1713 Flemish Baroque)
Honoré Daumier (1808-1879, French painter and caricaturist)
Augustin van den Berghe (1756-1836, Dutch historical painter)
Fernand Cormon (1845-1924, French historical painter)
Gustave Doré (1832-1883, French illustrator and painter)
Valentin Serov (1865-1911, Russian portrait painter)
I love watching your lectures online, thank you so much for posting them.
Greetings from Germany
Thank you so much! That’s a great list. I am familiar with some of them; but, many are new to me. That’t terrific.
[…] conversation about forgotten masters. He is compiling a great list that you can contribute too. Go here to read more about it and the upcoming […]
Richard Gerstal
Georges Rouault
Bernard Buffet
Three of my favorites that I wish there was more material about. I love your website and lectures!
Thank you! Great suggestions.
I’ve been working on prints made from my photographs of sculptors’ work, mostly of the 19th century, starting with work in cemeteries. There, I’ve seen fantastic marbles by Leonardo Bistolfi ( Elena Bauer, Genoa, there’s a small museum in Casale Monferrato, Italy) Fernand Jacopozzi Boucher (Marguerite Poccardi, Paris), Vincenzo Vela (Milan, I think there’s a small museum in Switzerland), Richard Aigner (Rufina Cambaceres, Buenos Aires), Leone Tommasi (Italian, a few of his works are in Buenos Aires), Enrico Butti (tomb of Isabella Casati, Milan). It’s often the case that works in cemeteries are unsigned and one has to do some searching to find who made them. I’ve not always been successful. Your work on Canonica is what brought you to my attention, I stumbled upon the museum in Rome last year by chance – it was listed at the Capitoline annex in the old electrical plant, so I went there the next day.
Thank you, Carson. These are all wonderful suggestions! I’ll add them to the list.
Still busy finding sculptors’ names to go with their works and mine that follow theirs. More are Sassi (Irene Massazza in Milan), Orengo (Milan and Genoa), Camillo Broggi (one marvelous bronze in Milan), Monteverde is not so forgotten, Balzico (Cleopatra in Rome, also plaster models in a sort of basement gipsoteca).
I’ve just returned from a week of photographing in cemeteries and gipsoteche in Tuscany. Failed to find the Vela at Bologna, will have to go to Ligornetto in the future; terrific work by Dupré in Pisa, Baldini in Florence, many more whose scupltors I’ll have to look up. I also picked up my copy of the encyclopedia of 19th C. Italian sculptors, two volumes, at a bookshop near Florence….
Good article! We are linking to this great post on our site. Keep up the good writing. Ketty Fairfax Gurney
I was excited to find the name Kinson or Kinsoen on a list from Julian Fuchs. Francois Joseph Kinsoen was my great great great uncle about whom I have just written a book entitled Blue Tulip. A preview may be found on my website: bluetulipproject.com. This coming Tuesday (6/8/2021), a show is opening At Alexis Bordes in Paris which includes a favorite painting , Madame Heme, dated 1828 – painted at the height of Kinsoen’s career.
I’m so glad you shared that. I know I have only seen this after the show opened. But, I’ll look at the site.
Hi,
I’ve got a couple of suggestions for the list of Forgotten Masters : Thomas Benjamin Kennington. Painter. 1856 – 1916.
Arthur Trevithin Nowell. Welsh 1862 – 1940.
Those are great names! Thank you.
Here are a few more ‘Forgotten Masters’ from c19 and c2o art:
Fritz von Uhde (1848-1911)
Alfred Emile Leopold Stevens (1823-1906)
David August Wallin (1876-1957)
Sven Richard Bergh (1858-1919).
Annie Louisa Swynnerton 1844 – 1933. Studied at Manchester School of Art, Academie Julian and in Rome. Most famous works ‘Cupid and Psyche’, ‘Sense of Sight’.
Hi Micah,
I’ve come up with some other suggestions for your list of Forgotten Masters: Charles Edouard Boutibonne (1816-1897); Jacob Henricus Maris (1837 -1899); Fredrik Hendrik Kaemerrer (1839 -1902).
Artur Coulin (1869 -1912) Austro-Hungarian painter and art critic. Eugene de Blaas (1843 – 1932), an Italian painter in the school of Academic Classicism.
Hi,
Yet another Forgotten Master to add to your list: Hendryk Hector Siemiradski. 1843 – 1902. Painter. Studied in St.Petersburg and then in Munich as a pupil of Karl von Piloty.
Felix Joseph Barrias (teacher of Degas); Carl Sohn, jr. (1845-1908); Nathaniel Sichel (1843-1907), student of J.Schroder in Berlin (1859-62.);Julius Leblanc Stewart (1855-1919).Studied under Zamacois, Madrazo and Gerome. Freidrich Paul Thumann (1834-1908).Famous for his painting ‘The Sirens’.
Hi Micah,
Herein a comprehensive list of European artists ranging from the Dutch ‘Golden Age’ through to the late 19c.
Bartolomeus van der Helst (1617 – 1670)
Bartholomeus Spranger (1546 – 1611) Flemish.
Alessandro Allori (1536 -1607) Florentine. Late Mannerist.
Josef Abel (1768 -1818) Austrian.
Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard (1743-1809) Danish.
Eduard Ansen-Hoffmann (1820-1904). Dutch.
Peter Nicolai Arbo (1831-1892) History painter.
Theodor Baierl (1881-1932) German.
Marie-Augustin Zwiller (1850-1939)
Wladyslaw Czachorski
(1850-1911)
Wilhelm Kotarbinski (1847-1921) Ukranian.
Carl Heinrich Block (1834 – 1890) Danish academic painter.
Lajos Deak-Ebner (1850-1934)
Henrietta Rae (1859-1928)
Alfred-Pierre Joseph Agache (1843-1915)
Johan Axel Gustav Acke (1859-1924)
Robert Anning Bell (1862-1933). Artist and designer.
Edouard Agneesens. (1842-1885)
Victor Shivert (1863-1926)
Leon Herbo. (1850-1907) Belgian. Orientalist painter.
Bernardo Hay (1864-1931)
Artur Lajos Halmi (1866-1931)
Charles Ernest Butler (1864-1933)
Charles Henry Malcolm Kerr (1858 – 1907)
Gretchen Woodman Rogers (1881-1967). Studied under Edmund Tarbell. Won silver medal at 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition for her self-portrait ‘Woman in a Fur Hat’.
Philippe Parrot (1831-1894)
Charles Zacharie Landelle (1821-1908)
Jules-Joseph Lefebvre (1836-1911)
Vassily Vereschagin (1842-1904) Best known for his depiction of battle scenes and one of the first Russian artists to be recognized abroad.
Leon Jean Basile Perrault (1832-1908).
Hi,
As a follow-up to my earlier post,
I’ve come up with some more names to add to an evergrowing list of forgotten masters:
Augusto Corelli (1853-1918)
Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl (1860-1933)
George Henry (1858-1943). Member of the ‘Glasgow Boys’ group of painters.
Erik Ludvig Henningsen (1855-1930). Famous for his painting ‘Evicted’ (1892).
Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max (1840-1915)
Marcel Paul Meys (active 1880-1901)
Aime Nicolas Morot (1850-1913)
Emile Munier (1840-1895)
Max Nonnenbruch (1857-1922)
Fritz Georg Papperitz (1846-1918)
Hi,
I have a new roster of artists to add to the list of Forgotten Masters:
Bartholomeus Spranger. Flemish. (1546-1611).
Bartholomeus van der Helst. (1613-1670)
Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn (1565-1620)
Valentine Cameron Prinsep. (1838 -1904)
Frank Dicksee (1853-1928)
Hugh Ramsey. (1877-1906).Scottish-Australian.
Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton.(1867-1943)
Hanna Hirsch-Pauli (1864-1940)
Christine Herter Kendall (1890-1981)
Abbot Henderson Thayer (1849-1921)
Adolf Hiremy-Hirsch (1860-1933)
Julian Alden Weir. (1852-1919)
LeConte Stewart (1891-1990).
Hi,
Some more names for the Forgotten Masters list:
Wassilij Grigojewitsch Perow (1834-1882)
Freidrich Overbeck (1789-1869)
Mateo Cesero (1637-1666)
Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919)
Georg Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923)
Girolamo Macchietti (c.1535/1541-1592)
Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1768-1826)
Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901)
Hans von Marees (1837-1887)
Anselm Fuerbach (1829-1880).
Jose Moreno Carbonero (1860-1942) History painter. Prominent member of the Malaga school of painting. Studied under Bernardo Ferrandiz.
Edward Calvert (1799-1883)
Frederick Goodall (1822-1904)
John Frederick Lewis (aka ‘Spanish’ Lewis)
[1804 -1876 ]
James Smetham (1821-1888)
Augustus Leopold Egg (1826-1863)
Richard Dadd (1817-1886)
Karl Reinhold Callmander (1840-1922)
Alexander von Liezen Mayer (1839-
1898)
Sophie Gengembre Anderson (1823-1903)
Bertha Wegmann (1847-1926)
Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel (1850-1913)
Duncan Max Meldrum (1875-1955). Painter. Born in Edinburgh, Meldrum emigrated to Australia at age 14, and in later years created an Art Movement in the early 20c of Australian Tonalism, or ‘Meldrumism’. He had a number of pupils studying at his Collins Street, Melbourne studio, the most prominent being Clarice Beckett and Percy Leason.
Elected as president of the Victoria Artists Society for 1916-1917, Meldrum was dropped in short order because of his controversial opinions on art. His followers, the ‘Meldrumites’, created a breakaway group, Twenty Melbourne Painters Society, to promote ideas connected to the Tonalist school.
Hi Micah,
Here are some artists – mostly painter/printmakers -from c19 who IMHO deserve inclusion on the list of Forgotten Masters:-
Mary Nimmo Moran. 1842-1899. Painter & etcher.
Eugene Laurent Vail. 1857-1934. Painter & etcher.
Charles Storm van Gravesande. Painter & etcher.
Austin Osman Spare. Painter and occultist. 1886-1956.