Louis Lang (1814-1893)

Portrait, miniature, and genre painter Louis Lang was born in Waldsee, Württemberg, Germany in 1814. His father was a painter of historical subjects. By the age of sixteen Louis was executing successful pastel portraits of the people around him. He began his art studies in Paris in 1834, and spent some time studying in Stuttgart in Germany, before coming to America in 1838. He settled briefly in Philadelphia, but then spent several years living in Venice, Rome, Florence, and Paris. Lang returned to America in 1847 and settled in New York City where he lived for the remainder of his career, aside from frequent trips to Europe. In New York the artist shared a studio in Waverly House at Washington Square on Broadway with his dear friend and fellow artist John Frederick Kensett. Lang specialized in historical, biblical, literary and pastoral subjects, which he approached in a sentimental style. He was known in his day as a brilliant colorist, and was especially popular for his holiday pictures and depictions of feminine and innocent beauty. He was a member of the Artists’ Fund Society of New York and contributed to its 1878 sale his paintings “Chasing Butterflies”, “Fresh Cherries”, and “Neapolitan Fisher Family”. He was also a member of the Century Club, praised by Worthington Whittredge–a friend and fellow-member–in his autobiography as “a rare set of gentlemen.” Whittredge said of Lang that he was “an artist whom everybody loved and respected.” Lang was elected to full membership of the National Academy of Design in 1852. He exhibited his work at the Academy from 1847 to 1885. He also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Artists Fund Society, and the Brooklyn Art Association. His painting “Landing of the Market-Boat at Capri” was shown at the 1876 American Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Lang’s works are found among the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Museum of New York Historical Society; the Brooklyn Museum of Art; the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. Lang died in New York City in 1893.