09 Works, Today, May 9th. is Artist Anton von Werner's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #127

Werner, Anton von

Katon to the victory memorial frieze, c. 1873

Oil on canvas

3.93 x 23.45 m

Berlin Museum

The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire (and later, the Third French Republic) and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. 

France was to suffer the greatest humiliation since the defeat of the Emperor Napoleon the Great at Waterloo on June 18, 1815. This time, the hero's nephew from Jena and Wagram was defeated! It wasn't enough to bear the surname "Bonaparte" to defeat the Prussians!

Here, the son of Frederick William III, took revenge for the defeat of Prussia in 1807. He was then 10 years old. He did not forget the humiliation and affronts his parent suffered. In a dozen or so days the Prussian ring tightened around Paris. More on this painting

Anton Alexander von Werner (9 May 1843 – 4 January 1915) was a German painter known for his history paintings of notable political and military events in the Kingdom of Prussia. One of the most famous painters of his time, he is regarded a main protagonist of the Wilhelmine Period.

Werner was born in Frankfurt (Oder) in the Prussian Province of Brandenburg, the son of a carpenter. His family originally came from East Prussia and was ennobled (von) in 1701. He began an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in 1857 and from 1860 onwards studied painting at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. One year later, he pursued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, where he studied with Johann Wilhelm Schirmer, Ludwig des Coudres, Adolf Schroedter, and Karl Friedrich Lessing.

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915) 

Captured, c. 1870

Oil on canvas

106 x 157 cm.

Berlinische Galerie

Captured French soldier, taking leave of his wife, while a German musceteer holding their infant child

In Karlsruhe, Werner met with artists like Eduard Devrient, Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann, Paul Heyse, and the Norwegian painter Hans Gude. The author Joseph Victor von Scheffel, who became a close friend, introduced him to Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden, and Werner illustrated several printed editions of Scheffel's works. 

Anton von Werner

The daughters of Franz Wollner , c. 1874

Pencil, heightened with white on Canson vellum.

38 x 46,7 cm 

Private collection

Anton Alexander von Werner (German, 1843–1915)

The daughters of Franz Wollner in traditional German costumes , c. 1874

Oil on artist's board

23 x 30 cm. (9.1 x 11.8 in.)

Private collection

Werner visited Paris in 1865 and again from March 1867 to July 1868, preparing the International Exposition of 1867. He was strongly influenced by the history paintings of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eugène Delacroix, Ernest Meissonier, and Léon Cogniet whom he also met personally. Having obtained a travelling scholarship upon the exhibition of his early works at the International Exposition, he moved to Italy in 1868 and stayed with Anselm Feuerbach in Rome until November 1869. On his return to Baden, he received several state commissions.

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915) 

Kaiserproklamation im Spiegelsaal von Versailles am 18/ The proclamation of the German Empire, Januar 1871, c. 1885

Oil on canvas

Height: 250 cm (98.4 in); Width: 250 cm (98.4 in)

Bismarck-Museum Friedrichsruh

The third version of the proclamation of Prussian king Wilhelm I as German Emperor at Versailles, by Anton von Werner. The first two versions were destroyed in the Second World War. This version was commissioned by the Prussian royal family for chancellor Bismarck's 70th birthday. Note that the subjects are portrayed as the age they were when the work was painted in 1885, not the age they were at when the event occurred in 1871. More on this painting

Upon the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Werner was sent with the staff of the 3rd Corps d'Armée under the command of Prince Frederick William of Prussia in October 1870. In January 1871, he was summoned to the Prussian headquarters in Versailles and commissioned to immortalize the proclamation of the German Empire at the Hall of Mirrors (See above). This painting marked Werner's final breakthrough, he became acquainted with numerous German federal princes he portrayed, met with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, as well as with Emperor Wilhelm I. Afterwards he returned to Berlin, now the German capital, and married Malwine Schroedter, daughter of his tutor Adolf Schroedter in August 1871.

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915)

The Arrival of King Wilhelm I in Saarbrücken on 9th August 1870, c. 1877

Oil on canvas

86,5 x 128 cm

German Historical Museum Berlin

Saarland was occupied by the French at the beginning of the Franco-German War. Three days after the storming of the Spicherer Höhen, the Prussian king moved into Saarbrücken victoriously. After the foundation of the Reich, the City Council of Saarbrücken commissioned Anton von Werner with a three-part mural cycle to decorate the town hall. Shown is an event that did not take place this way: The arrival of the king had been announced for August 8, but he arrived only on August 9. On that day, the city's dignitaries, including the mayor, were not present to greet the king. Werner's design shows the traces of the fighting: sandbags, barrels, wounded and representatives of all classes - craftsmen, traders, soldiers, citizens, military. More on this painting

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915)

Congress of Berlin, 13 July 1878, c. 1881

Oil on canvas

360 × 615 cm

Lebendiges Museum Online

At the height of the socialist scare in the early summer of 1878, international affairs also demanded Bismarck’s attention. The Berlin Congress was convened from June 13 to July 13, 1878, as an international meeting to solve the Balkans question in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Bismarck offered his services as an “honest broker”, thereby scoring a major diplomatic triumph. Originally, the Berlin senate hoped to organize a festive reception to mark the conclusion of the congress. But when the plan went awry, it used the allocated money to commission this painting from Anton von Werner (1843-1915). 

On March 22, 1881, the Kaiser’s 84th birthday, the artist presented the painting to the Berlin city fathers. Werner’s painting highlights a number of important participants in the congress, including British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), seen at the left. The real focus of the viewer’s attention, however, is the trio in the immediate foreground, and, even more specifically, the handshake between Bismarck and the second-ranking Russian diplomat in attendance, Count Pyotr A. Schuvalov (1827-1889). The Austro-Hungarian representative, Count Gyula Andrássy (1823-1890), looks on. That Schuvalov enjoyed such good relations with Bismarck angered the leader of the Russian delegation, Prince Alexander M. Gorchakov (1798-1883) (seated at the left), who subsequently ensured that his career went downhill. 

Among the men standing at far right are Lord Salisbury, the British foreign secretary, and Lord Odo Russell, the British ambassador in Berlin (third and fourth from the end, respectively). The foreground handshake was partially orchestrated by the artist himself, who wanted the viewer to be able to focus on a relatively intimate group, as opposed to an undifferentiated collection of diplomats. But this still did not prevent critics from complaining that Werner had painted only a “cabinet of wax figures.” Werner had even suggested the setting, for the room in which the handshake took place was better lit than the one in which the main negotiations were held. More on this painting

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915)

Inauguration of the Reichstag, c. 1893

I have no further description, at this time

State Opening of Parliament (German Reichstag) on 25 June 1888, celebrated in the White Hall of the Berlin Palace.

When the Reichstag met for its first session in Berlin on March 21, 1871, it was hard to imagine a representative body with such far-reaching powers. Power was primarily held in the hands of two men: Emperor Wilhelm I, also King of Prussia, and the Reich Chancellor he appointed, Otto von Bismarck.

Wilhelm became emperor with the founding of the German Empire on January 18, 1871. As Reich Chancellor, Bismarck directed the political affairs of the first German nation-state, which had emerged from a confederation of states under Prussian leadership. More on this painting

In Berlin, Werner designed a large velarium stretching over the Unter den Linden boulevard at the triumphant arrival of the victorious German troops. He received further public commissions to create the mural decorations in the portico of the Victory Column, whereby he used his velarium as a cartoon for an innovative stained glass mosaic. He continued to commemorate the Franco-Prussian War in several commissioned paintings.

Anton von Werner  (1843–1915)

Enthüllung des Richard-Wagner-Denkmals im Tiergarten/ Unveiling of the Richard-Wagner Monument in the Tiergarten, c.1908

Oil on canvas

Height: 227 cm (89.3 in) Width: 312.3 cm (10.2 ft)

Berlinische Galerie

In 1875 Anton von Werner was named director of the Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts in Berlin. His views on art appealed to the emperors’ conservative taste and he painted impressive works for the court. But his last major piece was for a Berlin cosmetics manufacturer, the former opera singer Ludwig Johann Leichner (1836–1912). Leichner had commissioned a monument to the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883). In this painting to celebrate its festive unveiling in Berlin’s Tiergarten on 1 October 1903, Leichner is surrounded by leading figures in the arts, business and politics. More on this painting

In 1873 Werner was appointed professor at the Berlin Academy. His career reached its peak when he became, in 1875, director of the Academy. After 1888, while in William II's court, Werner tutored the emperor to become a painter. In 1909, he succeeded Hugo von Tschudi in directing the Nationalgalerie in Berlin. He died in Berlin in 1915 and was interred at the Alter Zwölf-Apostel-Kirchhof in the Schöneberg neighborhood of Berlin. More on Anton Alexander von Werner

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