Today in Wheeling History: February 10--Hermann Lungkwitz, German-born artist and photographer who resided in Wheeling before settling in Texas, passed away in Austin, Texas (1891).
Hermann Lungkwitz was born on March 14, 1813, in Halle, Prussia (now Saxony-Anhalt), to Johann Gottfried Lungkwitz and Friederike Wilhelmine (Hecht) Lungkwitz. He received formal training at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1840 to 1843 under the tutelage of Adrian Ludwig Richter. After receiving an academy certificate of achievement in 1843 for his sketch of the Elbe River, Lungkwitz spent the next three years honing his artistic skills in Salzkammergut and the Northern Limestone Alps in Bavaria.
In 1850, Lungkwitz and his brother-in-law Friedrich Richard Petri emigrated to the United States, landing first in New York City. They migrated to Wheeling, West Virginia, but decided on the destination of Texas in 1851. The two families bought a 320-acre farm near Fredericksburg, Texas, in 1852 and took up farming and cattle ranching. Lungkwitz continued to create paintings of the Texas Hill Country, with one of his favorite subjects being Enchanted Rock.
Lungkwitz also learned photography and worked as a photographer in San Antonio with Carl G. von Iwonski from 1866 until 1870. He later moved to Austin, where he worked as a photographer for the General Land Office under his brother-in-law, commissioner Jacob Kuechler, until the end of Governor E. J. Davis's administration in 1874. Lungkwitz passed away on February 10, 1891, in Austin, Texas, and is remembered for his contributions to the visual arts and photography.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/mr4yrs8d), Texas State Historical Association (https://tinyurl.com/ye22ypmd), American Art Gallery (https://tinyurl.com/3xyca5m3)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
Hermann Lungkwitz was born on March 14, 1813, in Halle, Prussia (now Saxony-Anhalt), to Johann Gottfried Lungkwitz and Friederike Wilhelmine (Hecht) Lungkwitz. He received formal training at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts from 1840 to 1843 under the tutelage of Adrian Ludwig Richter. After receiving an academy certificate of achievement in 1843 for his sketch of the Elbe River, Lungkwitz spent the next three years honing his artistic skills in Salzkammergut and the Northern Limestone Alps in Bavaria.
In 1850, Lungkwitz and his brother-in-law Friedrich Richard Petri emigrated to the United States, landing first in New York City. They migrated to Wheeling, West Virginia, but decided on the destination of Texas in 1851. The two families bought a 320-acre farm near Fredericksburg, Texas, in 1852 and took up farming and cattle ranching. Lungkwitz continued to create paintings of the Texas Hill Country, with one of his favorite subjects being Enchanted Rock.
Lungkwitz also learned photography and worked as a photographer in San Antonio with Carl G. von Iwonski from 1866 until 1870. He later moved to Austin, where he worked as a photographer for the General Land Office under his brother-in-law, commissioner Jacob Kuechler, until the end of Governor E. J. Davis's administration in 1874. Lungkwitz passed away on February 10, 1891, in Austin, Texas, and is remembered for his contributions to the visual arts and photography.
To learn more: Wikipedia (https://tinyurl.com/mr4yrs8d), Texas State Historical Association (https://tinyurl.com/ye22ypmd), American Art Gallery (https://tinyurl.com/3xyca5m3)
Photo credits: Wikimedia Commons
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