Emil Hünten

Emil Hünten. Woodcut by Richard Brend'amour

Emil Johannes Hünten (19 January 1827 – 1 February 1902) was a German military painter, he was often lithographed.

Biography

Born in Paris on January 19, 1827, the son of the composer, Franz Hünten, he studied art under Hippolyte Flandrin and Horace Vernet at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1848, he moved to Antwerp to work in the studios of Gustaf Wappers and Josephus Laurentius Dyckmans, before heading to Düsseldorf in 1851 where his teachers were Julius Lessing and Wilhelm Camphausen.

With such influences, it is not surprising that the artist began to paint historical scenes from the life of Frederick the Great, and gradually turned to military subjects. His work appealed to Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia who invited him to accompany the army on the campaign in Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. Two years later, Hünten was attached to the Prussian forces in the Austro-Prussian War, and four year later, he covered the Franco-Prussian War.

Among his customers were many famous people. Otto von Bismarck ordered a scene from the Battle of Gravelotte. He won medals for his works at Berlin (1872) and Vienna (1873), and became a member of the Berlin Academy in 1878. He excelled also as a painter of horses. One of his students was the English historical/military artist, Ernest Crofts.

Theodor Fontane was inspired by the Work of Emil Hünten for his novel Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg. In his novel Effi Briest the protagonists visit Hüntens great panorama Battle of St. Privat in Berlin.

He died at Düsseldorf on February 1, 1902.

Paintings

Battle of Königgrätz
French messenger
Marshall Forwards

In Germany works by Emil Hünten are on display at the Palast Kunst Museum Düsseldorf, Kunsthalle Kiel (owns al least two works), Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover and the Bismarck Museum in Friedrichsruh.

Further reading

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