View source for Karl Ferdinand Sohn

{{short description|German painter}}

{{expand German|topic=bio|date=October 2016}}
[[Image:Karl Ferdinand Sohn.jpg|thumb|125px|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==
[[File:Schattenseiten der Düsseldorfer Maler, Portrait of Karl Ferdinand Sohn (1805-1867).JPG|thumb|left|175px|Sohn in his studio, 1846]]
He was born in Berlin and started his studies at the age of eighteen under [[Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow|Wilhelm von Schadow]], whom he followed to Düsseldorf. He focused on mythical and poetic subjects of a highly [[Romanticism|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 [[Kunstakademie Düsseldorf|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 [[Richard Sohn|Paul Eduard Richard Sohn]] (1834–1912) and [[Karl Rudolf Sohn|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 [[Germany|German]] [[composer]] and [[Conducting|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.
[[File:Emma Elwin by Luise von Martens 1853 - Private Collection Germany.jpg|thumb|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==
{{Div col}}
* [[Anselm Feuerbach]]
* [[Marie Wiegmann]]
* [[Amalie Bensinger]]
* [[Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann]]
* [[Heinrich Ludwig Philippi]]
* [[Clemens Bewer]]
* [[Ludwig von Milewski]]
{{div col end}}

==Selected paintings==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Rinaldo und Armida, Karl Ferdinand Sohn 1828.JPG|alt=Rinaldo and Armida|''[[Rinaldo (Jerusalem Delivered)|Rinaldo]] and [[Armida]]'', 1828
File:Carl Ferdinand Sohn - Torquato Tasso and the Two Leonores - Google Art Project.jpg|alt=Torquato Tasso and the Two Leonores|''[[Torquato Tasso]] and the Two Leonores'', 1839
File:Mathilde Wesendonck by Karl Ferdinand Sohn, 1850.jpg|[[Mathilde Wesendonck]]
File:Karl Ferdinand Sohn - Minstrel and two listening Ladies - NG.M.00188 - National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.jpg|alt=|''Minstrel and Two Listening Ladies'', 1849. Depicting Torquato Tasso, [[Eleonora d'Este (1537–1581)|Eleonora d'Este]], and [[Leonora Sanvitale]].
File:Carl Ferdinand Sohn - Die beiden Leonoren. Um 1834.jpg|alt=|''The Two Leonors'', circa 1834
File:Emilie Auguste geb. von Mülmann Gemälde vom Gatten Carl Ferdinand Sohn (1867).jpg|alt=|''Portrait of Emilie Auguste Sohn'' by her husband
</gallery>

== External links ==
{{commons category|Karl Ferdinand Sohn}}
{{Wikiquote|Karl Ferdinand Sohn}}
* [http://carl-ferdinand-sohn.com/index.php/en/ PhD project to Carl Ferdinand Sohn]

==Sources==
* {{Cite ADB|34|544|546|Sohn, Carl|Max Georg Zimmermann|ADB:Sohn, Carl}}
* This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

{{Düsseldorf school of painting}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sohn, Karl Ferdinand}}
[[Category:19th-century German painters]]
[[Category:19th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:German male painters]]
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf]]
[[Category:Düsseldorf school of painting]]
[[Category:Painters from the Kingdom of Prussia]]