Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919

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Frank Duveneck (1848-1919) was a painter and teacher in Munich, Germany and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Born in Covington, Ky., he used the surname Decker until 1886. He began his career painting in midwestern Catholic churches. In 1870, Duveneck went to Munich, where he shared a studio with William Merritt Chase, studied with Wilhelm von Diez, and was influenced by the style of the Munich School. After travel to Venice and America, Duveneck opened his own school in Munich and in the Upper Bavarian village of Polling in 1878. His students, known as the "Duveneck Boys", included Otto Bacher, Julius Rolshoven, John Twachtman, and Herman Wessel. He married one of his students, Elizabeth Boott, in 1886. Following his wife's death in 1888, Duveneck returned to the United States to teach at the Cincinnati Art Academy.

From the description of Frank and Elizabeth Boott Duveneck papers, 1851-1972, bulk 1851-1919. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78566797

Painter and teacher; Munich, Germany and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Married his student, Elizabeth Boott, 1886. Following her death in 1888, Duveneck returned to the United States to teach at the Cincinnati Art Academy.

From the description of Frank Duveneck papers, 1845-1919. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122594708

Painter and teacher; Munich, Germany and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Born in Covington, Kentucky, he used the surname Decker until 1886. He began his career painting in midwestern Catholic churches. In 1870, Duveneck went to Munich, where he shared a studio with William Merritt Chase, studied with Wilhelm von Diez, and was influenced by the style of the Munich School. After travel to Venice and America, Duveneck opened his own school in Munich and in the Upper Bavarian village of Polling in 1878. His students, known as the "Duveneck Boys", included Otto Bacher, Julius Rolshoven, John Twachtman, and Herman Wessel. He married one of his students, Elizabeth Boott, in 1886. Following his wife's death in 1888, Duveneck returned to the United States to teach at the Cincinnati Art Academy.

From the description of Photograph of Frank Duveneck, circa 1918. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 422875576

Painter and teacher; Munich, Germany and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Born in Covington, Kentucky, he used the surname Decker until 1886. He began his career painting in midwestern Catholic churches. In 1870, Duveneck went to Munich, where he shared a studio with William Merritt Chase, studied with Wilhelm von Diez, and was influenced by the style of the Munich School. After travel to Venice and America, Duveneck opened his own school in Munich and in the Upper Bavarian village of Polling in 1878. His students, known as the "Duveneck Boys", included Otto Bacher, Julius Rolshoven, John Twachtman, and Herman Wessel. He married one of his students, Elizabeth Boott, in 1886. Following his wife's death in 1888, Duveneck returned to the United States to teach at the Cincinnati Art Academy.

From the description of Photograph of Frank Duveneck, 1918. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122333508

Painter, etcher, and one of the most influential American art instructors of the nineteenth century, Frank Duveneck was born Frank Deckler to German immigrants Bernard and Katherine Decker on October 9, 1848 in Covington, Kentucky. He acquired the name Duveneck from his stepfather after his father's death and mother's remarriage. Family and friends recognized his artistic talents early on and he was apprenticed to local German artisans who decorated churches through most of the 1860s. In 1870 he traveled to Munich to study at the prestigious Konigliche Akademie (Royal Academy), where he was quickly promoted to life classes and the painting class of Wilhelm von Diez. He quickly earned a reputation as the leading American artist in the Academy. Duveneck was only 24 in 1872 when painted one of his most well-known paintings, Whistling Boy .

Due to dwindling funds and a cholera epidemic in Europe, Duveneck returned to the United States in 1873 and began teaching at the Ohio Mechanics Institute in Cincinnati the following year, where John H. Twachtman was among his students. An 1875 exhibition of his paintings at the Boston Art Club met with critical and public acclaim. He also attracted the attention of William Morris Hunt, novelist Henry James, and his future wife, Elizabeth Boott, who was one among those who deeply admired his work, although the pair were not to meet for another three years. After his return to Munich later that year, he became part of a tightly knit group of other American artists including Frank Currier, William Merritt Chase, and Walter Shirlaw. All four artists exhibited their work in the United States in such venues as the National Academy of Design's annual exhibition of 1877, and the first exhibition of the Society of American Artists in 1878, which may have contributed to the increased popularity of the Royal Academy in Munich as a destination for young American artists. As enrollment rose, classes became overcrowded and Duveneck began teaching in Munich. A group of younger students, including John Alexander, and John H. Twachtman, who had followed the artist from Cincinnati to Munich, became known as the "Duveneck Boys." He also had acquired a private female student, Elizabeth Boott, who had traveled to Munich to study with him.

The painter Elizabeth Boott, known primarily as "Lizzie," was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 13, 1846 and was raised by her widowed father, the prominent Bostonian Francis Boott. The pair moved to Florence, Italy, when Lizzie was just a year old, after the death of her mother and brother from tuberculosis. Similar to Duveneck, Lizzie Boott's talent for drawing was recognized and encouraged at an early age. Early drawings preserved by her father consist of portraits of their well-known Anglo-American friends including Robert Browning, Nathanial Hawthorne, and Henry Higginson, founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The Bootts briefly returned to Boston in 1865, at which time Lizzie met the novelist Henry James, who became a close life-long friend of both her and her father. Through James, she learned of the artist William Morris Hunt, and entered his class in Boston for women artists. She established close friendships with several of the women whom she met through Hunt's class, and they traveled together through Italy and Spain, took classes with the French artist Thomas Couture, and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. They also made up the group of female students that formed a class of women artists taught by Duveneck, whom Lizzie had persuaded to teach in Florence in 1879. Duveneck, along with a band of "Duveneck Boys" embarked upon a two year stay in Florence and Venice.

During this period in Italy, Duveneck experimented with with hard ground etchings, creating Venetian scenes similar to those produced by James McNeil Whistler. His painting changed as he focused more on landscapes executed in a ligher, more highly keyed palette, perhaps influenced by Lizzie Boott, who painted vibrant watercolor Italian landscapes during this period and with whom he began an extended courtship in 1880. Although Francis Boott admired Duveneck's work and had acquired one his portraits during the artist's successful 1875 exhibition at the Boston Arts Club, neither he nor family friends approved of the bohemian artist as a husband for his accomplished patrician daughter. However the pair eventually married in March 1886, and had a son, Francis Boott Duveneck that December. Tragically, Lizzie Boott died of pneumonia on March 22, 1888. Although he was not a sculptor, one of Duvenecks' most admired works is the effigy that he created with the help of sculptor Clement J. Barnhorn, for his wife's tomb in Florence, casts of which may be viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

After his wife's death Duveneck returned to America, spending most of his time in his Cincinnati studio and teaching painting classes at the Cincinnati Art Museum. At the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, two galleries at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, were allotted to Duveneck for a retrospective of his work. The jury awarded him a gold medal of honor to commemorate his contributions to American Art. Frank Duveneck died in Cincinnati on January 3, 1919.

From the guide to the Frank Duveneck and Elizabeth Boott Duveneck papers, 1851-1972, bulk 1851-1919, (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Frank Duveneck papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Edwin Coupland Shaw papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf John M. Donaldson papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Art Institute of Chicago. Office of the Director. Records, 1882-1914. Aurora University, Phillips Library
referencedIn Nicolai Cikovsky papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Material relating to Josephine W. Duveneck Archives of American Art
referencedIn Theodore Wores papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Duveneck, Frank. [Frank Duveneck]: artist file John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Library, Ringling Museum Library
referencedIn Taylor, Edward Robeson, 1838-1923. Edward R. Taylor letter, San Francisco, to Mrs. Mary Curtis Richardson, 15 June 1915. San Francisco Public Library, Main Library
referencedIn Photographs, 1896-1941, n.d. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Theodore Wores Papers, 1880-1999 Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Sharp, Joseph Henry, 1859-1953. Joseph Henry Sharp letters, 1903 Aug 21-1905 Jun 16. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn James, William, 1842-1910. Papers, 1803-1941 (bulk: 1862-1910) Houghton Library
referencedIn Beals, Jessie Tarbox. Photographs, 1896-1941 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Bessie Hoover and Herman Henry Wessel papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn Wores, Theodore, 1858-1939. Theodore Wores letters received, 1884-1931. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc. Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc. Weir Records, 1957-1991 (bulk 1980-1989). Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn William James correspondence, 1856-1910. Houghton Library
referencedIn Inventory of the Gerald Cassidy Collection, 1910-1977 Museum of Fine Arts Library and Archives
referencedIn Wores, Theodore, 1858-1939. Theodore Wores papers, 1880-1999. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn James C. Nichols scrapbooks Archives of American Art
referencedIn Sharp, Joseph Henry, 1859-1953. Joseph Henry Sharp letters, 1903 Aug 21-1905 Jun 16. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Hartmann, Sadakichi, 1867-1944. Photographs of portraits, undated. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Photograph of Frank Duveneck Archives of American Art
creatorOf Frank Duveneck and Elizabeth Boott Duveneck papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Duveneck, Francis Boott, 1886-. Typed transcript of a tape recorded interview with Francis Boott Duveneck: Los Altos Hills, California : oral history transcript / tape recorded interview conducted by Anne Loftis on January 20, 1981. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California : and related material, 1981. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Kenton County Public Library. Kentucky and Local History Collection. Repository description, 1790-1989. Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, Kentucky Guide Project Office
creatorOf John Rettig papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
referencedIn Frank Duveneck scrapbook, [1871?-1919?]. Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, Kentucky Guide Project Office
referencedIn Albert Duveen art reference files Archives of American Art
referencedIn Duveneck, Frank, 1848-1919 : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Frank Duveneck and Elizabeth Boott Duveneck papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Saul Zalesch collection of artists' letters and documents Archives of American Art
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with Philip Rhys Adams Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith Adams, Philip Rhys, 1908-1993 person
correspondedWith Art Institute of Chicago. Office of the Director. corporateBody
associatedWith Beals, Jessie Tarbox. person
associatedWith Beatty, John W. (John Wesley), 1851-1924. person
associatedWith Cassidy, Gerald person
associatedWith Cikovsky, Nicolai, 1894- person
associatedWith Couper, William, 1853-1888 person
associatedWith Couper, William, 1853-1942. person
associatedWith Dickman, William J. person
associatedWith Donaldson, John M., 1854-1941. person
associatedWith Duveen, Albert. person
associatedWith Duveneck, Elizabeth Boott, 1846-1888. person
associatedWith Duveneck, Francis Boott, 1886- person
associatedWith Duveneck, Josephine W. (Josephine Whitney), 1891-1978. person
associatedWith Duveneck, Josphine W. (Josephine Whitney), 1891-1978 person
associatedWith Frank Duveneck, person
associatedWith French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931. person
associatedWith Hartmann, Sadakichi, 1867-1944. person
associatedWith Hunt, William Morris, 1824-1879. person
correspondedWith James, William, 1842-1910 person
associatedWith JESSIE TARBOX BEALS, 1870-1942 person
associatedWith Kenton County Public Library. Kentucky and Local History Collection. corporateBody
associatedWith Nichols, James C. person
associatedWith Peter H. Davidson & Co., Inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Rettig, John, 1858-1932. person
associatedWith Rolshoven, Julius, 1858-1930. person
associatedWith Sharp, Joseph Henry, 1859-1953. person
associatedWith Shaw, Edwin Coupland, 1863-1941. person
associatedWith Shirlaw, Florence M. person
associatedWith Taylor, Edward Robeson, 1838-1923. person
associatedWith The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Welch, Thaddeus, 1844-1919. person
associatedWith Wessel, Bessie Hoover, 1889-1973. person
associatedWith Wores, Theodore, 1858-1939. person
associatedWith Zalesch, Saul E. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Ohio--Cincinnati
United States
Germany
Subject
Art teachers
Art teachers
Art teachers
Munich school of painting
Munich school of painting
Painters
Painters
Painters
Painting, American
Painting, Modern
Painting, Modern
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1848-10-09

Death 1919-01-03

Americans

Information

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