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Meyer, Julius

    Full Name: Meyer, Julius

    Gender: male

    Date Born: 1830

    Date Died: 1893

    Home Country/ies: Germany


    Overview

    Director of the Berliner Gemäldegalerie and compiler of the initial Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, later reissued as “Thieme-Becker.” When the publisher Wilhelm Engelmann bought the rights to the Neues Allgemeines Künstlerlexicon, (1852) of G. K. Nagler from the publishing house Tendler (J. Grosser) they assigned Meyer to revise the encyclopedia. Engelmann planned the new work to be about fifteen volumes. Only three volumes of the new Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon appeared. Meyer succeeded Gustav Friedrich Waagen as the director of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie in 1868. Meyer had been too extensive in his biographies of the better-known artists, and the work languished in 1885 after only three volumes. In the meantime, his work was becoming well-known outside the German-speaking world. Mary Margaret Heaton translated his biography of Correggio into English in 1876. Meyer’s hires at the Gemäldegalerie included the great connoisseur Ludwig Scheibler. Meyer was succeeded at the Gemäldegalerie by Wilhelm Bode in 1890. Meyer’s work on the legend and life of Kaspar Hauser (1812-1833) were published posthumously as two books on him. Meyer’s daughter married the art historian and theorist Konrad Fiedler.


    Selected Bibliography

    Correggio. 2 vols. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1871, English, Antonio Allegri da Correggio from the German of Dr. Julius Meyer. New York: Macmillan, 1876; Beschreibendes Verzeichniss der während des Umbaues ausgestelten Gemälde. Berlin: C. Berg & v. Holten, 1878 ; edited, [2nd ed. of Nagler’s Künstler-Lexikon, 1870.] Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon. 3vols [all published]. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1872-1885; Geschichte der modernen französischen Malerei seit 1789 zugleich in ihrem Verhältniss zum politishcen Leben, zur Gesittung und Literatur. Leipzig: E. A. Seemann, 1867; and Frizzoni, Gustavo. Giovanni Antonio Amadeo: scultore ed architetto (n 1447 m. 1522). Rome: T. delle Scienze Matematiche e Fisiche, 1873; Geschichte der modernen französischen Malerei. Berlin: Neufeld & Mehring, 1860’s (?).


    Sources

    “Vorwort.” [Saur] Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon 1: v.; “From Thieme-Becker to the Artists’ Database.” K. G. Saur homepage. http://www.saur.de/akl/english/projekt.htm




    Citation

    "Meyer, Julius." Dictionary of Art Historians (website). https://arthistorians.info/meyerj/.


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