Description

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Carl Wilhelm Hübner (born June 17, 1814 Königsberg, † December 5, 1879 in Düsseldorf) was a German genre and landscape painter of romance and realism.

Hübner received his first artistic education from Professor Johann Eduard Wolff in his place of birth. Through his promotion, Hübner was admitted to the Düsseldorf art academy in 1837 at the age of 23. He remained there until 1841, where he was a pupil of Wilhelm von Schadow and the son of Carl Ferdinand.

Hübner is considered a representative of the Düsseldorf School of Painting. From 1841 he ran his own studio. The main works of Hübner are oil paintings with scenes from daily life, especially scenes of human and social conflicts. His focus was often “the other side” of society, such as the lives of thieves, smugglers or poachers. A well-known work is the painting De Schlesischen Weber, in which he was impressed by the socio-economic situation of the weavers, trying to portray the human side of their existence. The painting was shown in 1844 with a large audience in Cologne, Berlin, Halberstadt and other German places. It is related in style and explanation to Wilhelm Kleinenbroich’s painting that Mahl- und Schlachtsteuer. Because of the socially critical side of the Schlesischen Weber, part of the art criticism accused him of cheap populism.

In 1847 Hübner undertook an extensive study trip through the United States. His sketches, which were made, formed the basis of many of his paintings after his return. On August 6, 1848 Hübner was one of the founders of the support fund, Kunstler Malkasten and was also the chairman for some time. He was also a member of the board of Düsseldorf artists for mutual support and assistance. Carl Hübner paid tribute to the spirit of the times through his immense creativity, but his paintings lacked the “academic feeling” in the eyes of his contemporaries. He was accused of “realism” in the sense that he usually renounced sentimentalism and idealization of the events depicted in his paintings. Precisely for this reason, Hübner was seen as a “German Courbet” by later criticism, in particular in the artistic-scientific appreciation of the 1970s.

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Wilhelm_H%C3%BCbner