Biography
Adolf Johann Höffler was a well-travelled German landscape artist whose search for subjects took him from the forests surrounding his native Frankfurt to Italy, Cuba and the vast interior of North America. He was a painter shaped by travelling.
Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1825, Höffler grew up within an artistic family. His father, Heinrich Friedrich Höffler (1793-1844), maintained his own painting and drawing school, and provided Adolf with his earliest instruction. Three of his sisters, Johanna Eleonore, Anna Christine and Johanna Emilie, also became painters.
Following his father's death, Höffler studied at Frankfurt's Städelsches Kunstinstitut between 1844 and 1847, where his teachers included Johann David Passavant and Jakob Becker. Among his fellow students were Anton Burger, later an important figure in the Kronberg artists' colony, and Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Hasselhorst.
Even before completing his formal training, he'd travelled through Switzerland, northern Italy and Tyrol. He subsequently continued his studies in Munich and Düsseldorf.
A surviving Munich Academy matriculation record provides a particularly precise moment in his development. On 14 November 1847, he enrolled to study painting as student number 548. The following year, he studied in Düsseldorf under the respected history and portrait painter Karl Ferdinand Sohn.
Then his career took a considerably more adventurous turn. In 1848, aged just 22, he left Europe for North America. He would remain abroad for approximately five years. He travelled extensively through the United States, visiting Louisiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, while also travelling to Cuba. His movements took him from the southern and tropical environments of New Orleans and the Caribbean to the forests, rivers and settlements of the American Midwest.
While travelling, it appears he supported himself financially by painting portraits. At the same time, he produced numerous landscape drawings recording the views he encountered.
Among the places he encountered were the Upper Mississippi and St. Anthony Falls, subjects which later reappeared in finished works. His journeys also furnished material for illustrated travel writing, including accounts of the Upper Mississippi and Cuba published for American readers.
He painted a range of diverse environments and, as such, his oeuvre is varied in approach. In his tropical scenes, vegetation can almost consume the composition. Trees twist across waterways, creepers descend from branches, and figures become tiny presences within luxuriant growth. Elsewhere, his forests are structured through shafts of light and slender tree trunks, with brilliant openings beyond areas of deep shadow.
His Italian landscapes are different. Warm earth, weathered buildings, rushing water and rocky valleys replace the dense greens of the north. Roads, streams and bridges frequently draw the viewer further into the scene.
Following his departure from America in 1853, he spent time in Paris and Belgium before living in Munich between approximately 1854 and 1856. In Paris, he was associated with the publisher and dealer Goupil in connection with reproductions of his American material. Only in 1856 did he finally settle again in his native Frankfurt.
He worked as a drawing teacher at the Frankfurt Gymnasium and, between 1864 and 1872, also taught at the Musterschule.
Evidently a restless soul, he returned to Italy in 1862-63, and, later in life, again travelled through Germany, the Alps and Venice.
He died in Frankfurt in 1898, and an exhibition and subsequent auction of his estate followed in 1899.
Known For
Landscape paintings and drawings depicting Germany, Italy, North America and Cuba. Also worked as a portrait painter, particularly during his travels in North America between 1848 and 1853, when portrait commissions provided an important source of income.
Student Of
- Heinrich Friedrich Höffler (1793–1844)
- Johann David Passavant (1787–1861)
- Jakob Becker (1810–1872)
- Karl Ferdinand Sohn (1805–1867)
- Höffler received his earliest instruction from his father before studying at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Munich Academy and in Düsseldorf.
Lived In
- Frankfurt am Main
- United States
- Paris
- Belgium
- Munich
He also travelled extensively through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria/Tyrol, North America and Cuba.
Public Collections
- Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
- Wisconsin Historical Society
- Works and drawings by Höffler also survive in Frankfurt collections and private family holdings.
Timeline
1825
Born in Frankfurt am Main in December, the son of painter Heinrich Friedrich Höffler and Johanna Eleonora Höffler.
Childhood
Received his earliest artistic instruction from his father, who operated a painting and drawing school in Frankfurt.
Several of Höffler's sisters also became painters.
1844-1847
Studied at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt under Johann David Passavant and Jakob Becker. His fellow students included Anton Burger and Ernst Christian Wilhelm von Hasselhorst.
1840s
Travelled through Switzerland, northern Italy and Tyrol as part of his early artistic development.
1847
Enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich on 14 November as matriculation number 548, studying painting.
1848
Continued his artistic training in Düsseldorf under Karl Ferdinand Sohn.
Departed Europe for North America, aged twenty-two.
1848-1853
Travelled extensively through North America and Cuba.
Visited areas including Louisiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York. Supported himself principally through portrait painting while producing numerous landscape drawings during his travels.
1852
Worked in Wisconsin, producing landscape drawings which provide important visual records of the region during the mid-19th century.
1853
Published illustrated material relating to his travels, including an account of Cuba. Left North America and returned to Europe.
1853-1856
Spent time in Paris and Belgium before living in Munich. In Paris, he worked in connection with Goupil on the publication or reproduction of material derived from his American travels.
1856
Returned to Frankfurt and settled permanently in his native city.
Worked as a drawing teacher while increasingly concentrating upon landscape painting.
1862-1863
Returned to Italy, producing further studies and paintings inspired by its landscape and architecture.
1864-1872
Taught drawing at Frankfurt's Musterschule alongside his teaching at the Gymnasium.
Later 19th Century
Maintained connections with artists associated with the Kronberg artists' colony. Painted increasingly local subjects around Frankfurt while continuing to draw upon studies gathered during earlier journeys.
1890-1891
Undertook another journey through Germany, the Alps and Venice.
1898
Died in Frankfurt am Main on 19 March.
1899
A posthumous exhibition and auction presented Höffler's estate.
Much of his remaining work subsequently stayed in private and family collections.
1976
A Frankfurt exhibition brought renewed attention to Höffler's oeuvre after decades of relative neglect.