Heinrich Johann von Zügel

Born. 22.10.1850 in Murrhardt
Died. 30.01.1941 in Munich

German painter, depictions of domestic animals, impressionist

About the artist

Heinrich Johann von Zügel was born on 22 October 1850 in Murrhardt near Stuttgart.

At 17 he enrolled as a student at the art school in Stuttgart, focusing on animal and everyday life art. Two years later, he moved to Munich to further his education at the Munich Academy but was not happy with the teaching style so he decided to work on his own.

He spent some time in Vienna and finally settled in Munich. Anton Braith, who was an animal and landscape painter, was impressed with his work and became a mentor for Zügel.

Zügel painted a lot of scenery from the Dachau area, incorporating farm animals and workers into his work.

After doing more studies in Belgium and Holland and spending time at some Paris exhibitions he was influenced by the style of impressionism and started to use aspects of this style in his work. This led him to become one of the founding members of the Munich Secession. who wanted to move away from the traditional artistic styles.

Most of Zügel’s famous works were connected to the theme he titled, “Heavy Work”  involving the images of horses and oxen in the fields ploughing using his impressionistic style, a method he would continue to use until he was in his eighties.

In 1895, he became a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and stayed there until he retired in 1922.

He continued to paint during his retirement and died on 30 January 1941 in Munich