.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}@media all and (max-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{width:auto!important;clear:none!important;float:none!important))You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (October 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 9,072 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Karl Ferdinand Sohn]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template ((Translated|de|Karl Ferdinand Sohn)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.
Karl Ferdinand Sohn, from a group portrait by Julius Hübner

Karl Ferdinand Sohn (10 December 1805 in Berlin – 25 November 1867 in Cologne) was a German painter of the Düsseldorf school of painting.

Biography

Sohn in his studio, 1846

He was born in Berlin and started his studies at the age of eighteen under Wilhelm von Schadow, whom he followed to Düsseldorf. He focused on mythical and poetic subjects of a highly romantic character, and painted in the idealistic manner of the Düsseldorf school.

He visited Italy (1830–1831) and adopted ideas from the works of the Venetians; Titian, Paolo Veronese, and Palma il Vecchio. In 1832, he was named a Professor at the Düsseldorf Academy, where he exercised an important influence.

On 18 January 1834, he married Emilie Auguste von Mülmann in Düsseldorf. They had five children. His two sons Paul Eduard Richard Sohn (1834–1912) and Karl Friedrich Rudolf Sohn (1845–1908) also grew up to be painters. The latter married Else Sohn-Rethel (1853–1933), daughter of the painter Alfred Rethel. Clara, his eldest daughter, was married to the German composer and conductor Albert Dietrich. His daughter Marie married the painter Karl Hoff (1838–1890). His youngest daughter, Emilie, married his nephew, the painter Wilhelm Sohn (1830–1899), thereby making him his nephew and son-in-law.

Karl Ferdinand Sohn trained many female painters. His pupils included the painters Luise von Martens and Emma Elwin (née Neussel). The present portrait of Emma Elwin was done by Martens when both were in their mid-twenties. It is probably the only surviving portrait of Emma Elwin (private collection Germany).

Later, He painted biblical subjects, and then devoted himself to genre scenes, well characterized and of great coloristic charm. Among these are: the Consultation at the Lawyer's (1866, Leipzig Museum) and the Warrior of the Seventeenth Century (1869, Dresden Gallery).

At the age of nearly sixty-two Karl Ferdinand Sohn died on 25 November 1867 during a visit to his friend Ferdinand Hiller in Cologne.

Notable students

Selected paintings

Sources