Johann Georg Meyer Von Bremen (German 1813-1886)

Admiring The Baby
oil on panel, signed and inscribed lower right "Meyer von Bremen Berlin"
Size: 18 h x 13 ¼ w in (with frame 24 ½ x 19 ¾ in)
J20696                           

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604 736 8825 or 1 800 730 8825

“Admiring the Baby” is a superb example of von Bremen’s detailed interiors. Near photographic in its accuracy, the viewer is drawn into the narrative of the family scene where two children are admiring the infant held in their mother’s arms. Painted on wood panel, the details of the interior including the costumes, figures, wooden shoe toy boat, clock, kittens at their bowl are exceptional.  

Trained at the Düsseldorf Academy, Meyer von Bremen was known first for his finely detailed religious and allegorical works and later for paintings focusing on family life and peaceful childhood scenes highlighting cultural and regional influences. He was made a member of the Amsterdam Academy of Arts in 1857, later appointed professor, and a member of the Berlin Academy of Art. Very well respected during his lifetime, his idyllic vignetters were extremely popular and widely reproduced in the form of lithographs, engravings and photographs. He exhibited widely and received many awards and accolades including the Order of Leopold and the Gold Medal of Prussia.

Johann Georg Meyer von Bremen was born Johann Georg Meyer but became more commonly known as Meyer von Bremen. He was born in the town of Bremen, from where he took his name, in 1813. The son of a baker, he was raised in a highly religious household and had originally planned to become a missionary. However, his interest in the arts and need to support his family after the death of his father, led him to attend the Düsseldorf Art Academy where he studied painting in the classes of Wilhelm von Schadow and Carl Sohn and became good friends with fellow students landscape painter Andreas Achenback (1815-1910) and Norwegian romanticist Hans Fredrik Gude (1825-1903). Von Bremen completed his studies then opened his own studio in 1841 and became known as a painter of the Düsseldorf School characterized for their finely detailed paintings often with religious or allegorical stories in subdued and even colours. He married the singer Julia Beer in 1851, and as his work became more popular he relocated his studio to Berlin by 1853.  

Originally Von Bremen’s subjects centered on biblical themes, giving way to genre scenes especially of the Hessian peasantry. His travels to Hesse, Bavaria and the Swiss Alps introduced him to a wider variety of cultural influences and regional costumes. Similar to works by Friederik Eduard Meyerheim and Adrian Ludvig Richter, von Bremen began to focus on family life and peaceful childhood scenes and with this change of subject his reputation expanded. By 1881 these idyllic vignettes were selling for up to $4,000 dollars, the equivalent of over $100,000 today, and collected by important patrons including Mary Frances Hopkins Searles, one of America’s wealthiest women. 

Meyer von Bremen received many awards and honors during his lifetime including the Order of Leopold. He was made a member of the Amsterdam Academy of Arts in 1857, and later appointed professor. He was also a member of the Berlin Academy of Art. He exhibited widely including the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Exposition Universelle in Paris, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Liverpool Society of Fine Arts, and Crystal Palace Picture Gallery. Public collections include the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin. He received many awards and honours during his lifetime including being knighted with the Order of Leopold and awarded medals at the Berlin Academic Exhibition in 1851, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and the Gold Medal of Prussia. Very well respected, during his lifetime his paintings were widely reproduced in the form of lithographs, engravings and photographs. He died in Berlin in 1886.