August Fink was a German artist predominantly known for his atmospheric landscape paintings. He trained under Eduard Schleich the Elder, Adolf Stademann, Adolf Lier and Josef Wenglein. And later became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich where he was an honorary member.
Exhibited
Berliner Künstler association, Munich Glass Palace.
Public Collections
Neue Pinakothek in Munich, Glaspalast in Munich, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Timeline
1846
Born in Munich.
1859
Moved to the USA and worked in business.
1866
Returned to Germany and trained under Eduard Schleich the Elder and Adolf Stademann.
1872
Trained under Adolf Lier.
Trained under Josef Wenglein.
1874
Began exhibiting in Munich, Berlin and Nuremberg.
1888
Mentioned in Art and Artists of Our Time, by Clarence Cook.
“August Fink, a Munich artist whose name has not yet climbed so high as the dictionaries, and of whom therefore, we may believe so much, that he is young, shows in his ‘Winter in the Mountains,’ as much skill as Bodmer, and as deep a sentiment for nature, but he is a landscape painter and not an animal painter, though he often introduces animals into his compositions as here, and as in his ‘Mountain-heights with Deer,’ exhibited at Munich in 1883.
But, in Bodmer's pictures, the animal life is the main thing, and the pleasure we get from it is for the most part independent of the landscape. In the picture by August Fink, however, the landscape is the chief thing; the presence of the doe, strayed, apparently, from the rest of the herd, adds no doubt to the impressiveness of the scene, and at first may seem to heighten the sense of wintry desolation. But by her action we may judge that her mates are not far away, and just this little turn of the creature's head reassures us, and leaves us free to enjoy the beauty of the snow painting, the dark fir forest, the skeletons of last summer's shrubbery showing through the drift, and the gleam of the glacier on the distant mountain side.”
1889
Elected an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.
Appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich.
1890
Mentioned in the press following an exhibition in Munich.
“August Fink has exhibited his magnificent, fresh green ‘Summer Morning’ and his sunny ‘Early Spring’ in this hall, heartwarming, friendly pictures of noble and perfect work and the most intimate observation of nature.”
1894
Mentioned in Die Kunst unserer Zeit.
“Aug. Fink. Moonrise in winter. Deep, rigid silence. A pale light falls in a faint glow on the pale earth. The bare trees rise ghostlike into the heavy veil of fog. A few wild ducks flutter up from the reeds. The water no longer rushes or splashes. Slowly, ponderously it moves through the snow-covered meadows; Every now and then a floe of ice hisses against the frozen shore. A gentle breath of wind shudders through the branches like a groan. Otherwise no sound, no living being. The earth awaits the descending, merciless winter night in icy calm. But the dull, dim glow spreads over all the gloomy seriousness a primeval beauty. The beauty of Medusa, whose sight freezes, petrifies.”
1905
Awarded a gold medal at the annual exhibition in the Munich Glass Palace.
1916
Died in Munich.