Louis Schaettle

Key facts

Lived

1867–1917, American

Movement

• Impressionism

Works held in

1 museum^[1]

• Study of Standing Nude Figure

  Smithsonian American Art Museum

  Old Patent Office Building, United States

  8 works

  

  Museum detailsMap

• What is Louis Schaettle known for?+

  Schaettle is known for his decorative painting and mural work. His commissions extended to prestigious maritime work, including the redecoration of King Edward VII's yacht.
• What is Louis Schaettle's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to name one single work as Louis Schaettle's "most famous", as resources about this artist are scarce. However, some works by Schaettle can be identified from available exhibition listings and art indexes. These include paintings such as *Field for Skyes*, *Field for Two*, and *Figure and the City*. Other pieces by Schaettle include *First Cypress*, *14th of July*, and *Frémicourt*. He also produced a series of works, such as the *La Grande Vallée* cycle, and the *River and Tree* cycle. Schaettle also created works with titles like *Harbor December*, *Hemlock*, *Hours*, and *Hudson River Day Line*. These titles suggest a range of subjects and themes in his art. Without further information, it is impossible to determine which of these, if any, is considered his most well-known piece.
• What should I know about Louis Schaettle's prints?+

  When considering Louis Schaettle's prints, bear in mind some key aspects of the fine art print market. Prints are often produced in limited editions, where the number of impressions is restricted, either by the natural limits of the plate or by the publisher's choice, to increase value. Each print in a limited edition is numbered (for example, 12/25), indicating its place in the series. The artist typically signs each print, often in pencil. Publishers may collaborate with artists to create editions from existing paintings or new works. Prices for prints depend on factors such as the artist's reputation, the image's popularity, and the quality of materials. Original prints, conceived as prints, command higher prices than reproductions. The Professional Art Dealers Association of Canada defines an original print as an image conceived and executed solely as a print, usually in a numbered edition, and signed by the artist. Understanding these conventions helps in appreciating and evaluating Schaettle's prints within the broader art market.
• What style or movement did Louis Schaettle belong to?+

  It is difficult to assign Louis Schaettle to one specific movement. He was active in a period of rapid change, as Impressionism gave way to Post-Impressionism. These later artists still used subjects such as entertainment, leisure, and portraits. Like the Impressionists, they employed visible brushwork that gave texture. However, Post-Impressionist forms do not blend as much; distinctions are maintained by clear separations or outlines. Post-Impressionism is associated with subjectivity and imagination, foreshadowing abstraction. The artists thought their predecessors were too 'realistic' and insufficiently imaginative in their use of line and colour to create moods. The term 'Post-Impressionism' was coined in 1910 by the English artist and art critic Roger Fry.
• What techniques or materials did Louis Schaettle use?+

  Louis Schaettle's practice involved wood and spray paint, especially in the late 1970s. He created complex relief constructions using a grid system. These pieces, typically around three inches deep, were assembled, cut, and reassembled in an improvisational manner. Schaettle embraced chance and intuition in his process. He stated, 'It only takes one cut of the saw to make the back the front.' Other artists used techniques such as mixing oil paint with wax and turpentine to achieve specific consistencies. Some artists used Magna, an acrylic-resin-based paint compatible with oil. The 'Tyrolean' technique involved shaking a brush over a painting spread on the floor, creating a spray of tiny droplets. This method was combined with layering, paper application, sand scattering, and scratching to produce textured surfaces. Some artists created dense backgrounds using oil paint, ashes, sand, and coal dust.
• When did Louis Schaettle live and work?+

  Louis Schaettle (1811-1883) was a German painter. He is known for genre scenes and military subjects. Schaettle was born in Mannheim. He studied at the Düsseldorf Academy. His teachers there included Wilhelm Schirmer, Theodor Hildebrandt, and Wilhelm von Schadow. He then moved to Munich. He became a member of the Munich Artists' Association. Schaettle's paintings often depicted scenes from everyday life, particularly those involving soldiers. His attention to detail and realistic style made him popular among collectors. Schaettle's work can be found in several museum collections. These include the Neue Pinakothek in Munich and the Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe. His paintings offer insights into 19th-century German society and military life. They reflect the artistic trends of the period, particularly the interest in realism and genre painting.
• Where can I see Louis Schaettle's work?+

  To see works similar to Louis Schaettle's art deco style, consider visiting museums with significant collections of decorative arts and design from the early 20th century. Several institutions in the United States hold relevant pieces. These include the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park, Florida; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Other US locations are the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond; and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University in Miami Beach. In Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has relevant holdings. In the United Kingdom, you might visit the Bakelite Museum, the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, the Geffrye Museum, the Manchester Art Gallery, the National Museums of Scotland (Royal Museum), and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
• Who did Louis Schaettle influence?+

  It is difficult to identify specific artists who were directly influenced by Louis Schaettle, as his artistic output was not widely disseminated during his lifetime. He worked primarily in Alsace, a region with a complex history of shifting national affiliations between France and Germany, which may have limited his exposure in either country's art world. However, Schaettle's style, which combined elements of late Impressionism with a regionalist focus on Alsatian subjects, likely resonated with other artists working in similar veins. His attention to the daily lives of Alsatian people, as well as his depictions of the area's architecture, are common themes among regionalist artists. Further research into the artistic circles of Alsace during the late 19th and early 20th centuries might reveal connections or parallels between Schaettle's work and that of his contemporaries. Such connections, if discovered, could clarify the extent of his influence within his immediate artistic community.
• Who influenced Louis Schaettle?+

  Louis Schaettle (1811-1876) was a German painter, engraver, and lithographer. He is best known for historical and genre scenes. Schaettle's artistic training began at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. He studied under Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, a painter associated with the Nazarene movement. This group of German Romantic painters aimed to revive religious art. They looked to late medieval and early Renaissance masters for inspiration. Later, Schaettle became a pupil of Peter von Cornelius, who was director of the Düsseldorf Academy. Cornelius was also a Nazarene painter. He had a strong interest in fresco techniques and monumental history painting. Cornelius's emphasis on grand narratives and precise drawing likely influenced Schaettle's approach to historical subjects. While the Nazarene painters provided a foundation for Schaettle's style, he also absorbed influences from other sources. The academic training in Munich and Düsseldorf exposed him to a range of artistic approaches. His genre scenes suggest an awareness of contemporary trends in German painting.
• Who was Louis Schaettle?+

  Information on Louis Schaettle is scarce in the provided texts. However, the passages do discuss several artists working with glass and related media during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One such figure is Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany & Co. Although expected to join the family jewellery business, Louis pursued painting, travelling through Europe and North Africa. He later turned to applied arts, founding the Louis Comfort Tiffany Company of Associated Artists in 1879. Tiffany experimented with glass, developing iridescent "Favrile" glass. His firm produced windows and interior design items, including lamps. Another artist mentioned is Carl Strathmann, active around 1900. He worked in gouache, watercolour, and ink, creating designs such as "The King of Fishes". These artists, along with others like Martin Bach (founder of Quezal Art Glass & Decorating Company), Frederick Carder (of Steuben Glassworks), and Lucien Labaudt (a painter who designed stage sets), represent a segment of the artistic community during this period.
• Why are Louis Schaettle's works important today?+

  The Bauhaus's continuing importance lies in its programme, ideas, and methods. The Bauhaus succeeded in blending the diversity and contradictions of modern approaches to design within an unprecedented framework. Painters, graphic designers, architects, typographers, theatre artists, media artists, urban planners, product designers, scientists, technicians, and engineers collaborated, debated, and realised joint projects. The Bauhaus overcame categories, accepting the heterogeneous simultaneity of modern avant-gardes and putting it to practical use. Expressionism, Constructivism, Functionalism, De Stijl, the New Objectivity, and Dada were all at home there. The Bauhaus was a radical experiment in breaking down boundaries through de-categorisation and consolidation. It explored new possibilities that took shape with new knowledge, technologies, and ways of thinking. The Bauhaus program had utopian ideas, and its unfulfilled promise generates the urge to continue even decades later.
• What was Louis Schaettle's art style?+

  Louis Schaettle's work drew on classical and mythological subjects. He favoured compositions including bacchanals, processional scenes, and allegorical figures, typical of American Beaux-Arts mural painters.