Hermann Schmiechen

Hermann Schmiechen was born in Neumarkt, Prussian Silesia.{{sfn|Genealogie}} In 1872, he entered the Royal Academy of Arts and Crafts at Breslau, where he studied with Albrecht Bräuer (1830–1897).{{sfn|Introvigne|2015|p=18}} In 1873, he shifted into Düsseldorf school of painting and became student of Karl Müller and Eduard von Gebhardt, and was also a member of the artists association Malkasten. After studying at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, he learned in Paris at the Académie Julian.{{sfnm|Neumarkt|1994|1p=176|Introvigne|2017|2p=212}}

In 1883, on the recommendation of August Becker, Schmichen, almost simultaneously with Karl Rudolf Sohn, was invited into England to paint portraits of the British aristocracy.{{sfn|Selke|2003|p=16}} From 1884 to 1895 he was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.{{sfn|Zeller}}

June 20, 1884, a year after arriving in London, Schmiechen became a member the Theosophical Society. Then, fulfilling the request of Helena Blavatsky, he began to paint portraits of the Theosophical mahatmas. The portrait of the mahatma Koot Hoomi she assessed as "excellent" and immediately asked Schmiechen to begin working on a portrait of the mahatma Morya. It took him about three weeks,{{refn|group=note|"From June 19 to July 9, 1884."{{sfn|Hao Chin}}}} to complete these paintings.{{sfn|French|2000|pp=622–3}}{{sfn|Freyberger}}{{refn|group=note|"There are various accounts of the production of the Schmiechen portraits, yet all agree that the works are the result of inspiration."{{sfn|French|2000|p=622}}}}{{refn|group=note|"Hermann Schmiechen... agreed to take part in a 'psychical experiment' to see if images could be transferred to his mind from those who had seen the Masters."{{sfn|Sasson|2012}}}}

A Russian writer Vsevolod Solovyov reported his impression of the portraits of the Theosophical mahatmas as follows:

"Subsequently, when I had thoroughly examined these portraits, I found in them much that was unsatisfactory from an artistic point of view; but their life-likeness was remarkable, and the eyes of the two mysterious strangers gazed straight at the spectator, their lips could almost have been said to move... Schmiechen had painted two beautiful young men. Mahatma Koot Hoomi, clad in a graceful sort of robe, trimmed with fur, had a tender, almost feminine face and gazed sweetly with a pair of charming light eyes. But as soon as one looked at 'the master' [of Blavatsky], Koot Hoomi, for all his tender beauty, was at once forgotten. The fiery black eyes of the tall Morya fixed themselves sternly and piercingly upon one, and it was impossible to tear oneself away from them."{{sfn|Solovyoff|1895|p=78}}

In 1901, Schmiechen, returning into Germany, settled in Berlin and joined the German section of the Theosophical Society.{{sfn|Introvigne|2015|p=33}}

File:Moryaportrait.jpg|Portrait of Morya.

File:Jesus216.jpg|Portrait of Jesus.{{sfn|French|2000|p=609}}

File:Koothoomi.jpg|Portrait of Kuthumi.

• Bildnis einer Dame{{refn|group=note|Ident.Nr. A II 450. "Das undatierte, höchstwahrscheinlich private Bildnis einer jungen Frau, rückseitig 'Irmgard' beschriftet, dürfte noch aus der Düsseldorfer Zeit stammen."{{sfn|Freyberger}}}} (in German)
• Opernsängerin Lillian Nordica, 1878{{sfnm|Introvigne|2015|1p=18|Introvigne|2017|2p=212}} (in German)
• Princess Victoria of Hesse{{refn|group=note|Royal Collection, Cat. No. 624.{{sfn|Millar|1992|p=xxi}}}}
• Princess Elizabeth of Hesse{{refn|group=note|Royal Collection, Cat. No. 625.{{sfn|Millar|1992|p=xxi}}}}
• Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck, 1882{{refn|group=note|Royal Collection, Cat. No. 626.{{sfn|Millar|1992|p=628}}}}
• Princess Frederica of Hanover, Baroness von Pawel-Rammingen, 1884{{refn|group=note|Royal Collection, Cat. No. 627.{{sfn|Millar|1992|p=628}}}}
• Turtelndes Liebespaar am Fenster, 1895{{sfn|Zeller}} (in German)
• Dame mit Rosenkorb, 1895{{sfn|Introvigne|2015|p=30}} (in German)

• Agni Yoga
• Theosophists as artists
• Theosophy (Blavatskian)

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist|20em}}

• {{cite book |url= http://www.oxfordartonline.com/benezit/abstract/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00164079 |title=Hermann Schmiechen |date=31 October 2011 |website= Oxford Art Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00164079 |isbn=978-0-19-977378-7 |access-date=2019-01-16 |ref={{SfnRef|Art Online}}}}
• {{cite book |ref={{SfnRef|Neumarkt|1994}} |title=Schlesische Heimat: Stadt und Kreis Neumarkt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6HriAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Der Verein |date=1994 |edition=5th |language=de |access-date =2019-01-16}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.heidermanns.net/gen-pers.php?ID=62620 |title=Hermann Schmiechen |date=2016 |website=Genealogie von Heidermanns |language=de |access-date= 2019-01-16 |ref={{SfnRef|Genealogie}}}}
• {{cite web |url=http://malkasten.org/archiv/2005/07/bestandsliste.php |title=Malkasten archiv |date=2016 |website=Künstlerverein Malkasten |access-date=2019-01-16 |language=de |ref={{SfnRef|Malkasten}} |archive-date=2018-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712033830/http://malkasten.org/archiv/2005/07/bestandsliste.php |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite thesis |last=French |location=Sydney |format=PDF |publisher=University of Sydney |first=B. J. |title=The Theosophical Masters: An Investigation into the Conceptual Domains of H. P. Blavatsky and C. W. Leadbeater |degree=PhD |year=2000 |hdl=2123/7147 |access-date=2019-01-16 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7147 }} {{open access}}
• {{cite web |url=http://smb-digital.de/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&siteId=1&module=collection&objectId=966517&viewType=detailView |title=Bildnis einer Dame |author=Freyberger R. |website=Nationalgalerie |location= Berlin |publisher=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |access-date=2019-01-16 |language= de |ref={{SfnRef|Freyberger}}}}
• {{cite web |url=http://theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Schmiechen,_Hermann |title= Schmiechen, Hermann |author=Hao Chin V. |date=8 May 2012 |website= Theosopedia |publisher= Theosophical Publishing House |location=Manila |access-date=2019-01-16 |ref={{SfnRef|Hao Chin}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Introvigne |first=M. |title=Painting the Masters: The Mystery of Hermann Schmiechen |url=https://www.cesnur.org/2015/Painting%20the%20Masters.pdf |publisher=UPS |date=2015 |location=Torino |author-link=Massimo Introvigne |access-date =2019-01-16}}
• {{cite book |last=Introvigne |first=M. |title=The Occult Imagination in Britain: 1875–1947 |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTZDDwAAQBAJ |editor1-last= Ferguson |editor2-last=Radford |editor1-first=C. |editor2-first=A. |publisher=Routledge |date=2017 |isbn=9781351168304 |author-link= Massimo Introvigne |chapter=Painting the Masters in Britain: From Schmiechen to Scott |author-mask=4 |series=Among the Victorians and Modernists |access-date =2019-01-16 |pages=206–26}}
• {{cite book |last=Millar |first=O. |title=The Victorian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7PqAAAAMAAJ |publisher= Cambridge University Press |date=1992 |isbn=9780521265225 |access-date =2019-01-16}}
• {{cite book |last=Sasson |first=D. |title=Yearning for the New Age: Laura Holloway-Langford and Late Victorian Spirituality |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74jEiVAhVHEC&pg=PA142 |date=2012 |isbn=9780253001771 |editor1-last=Albanese |editor2-last=Stein |editor1-first=C. L. |editor2-first=S. J. |chapter= Koot Hoomi's portrait |pages=142–4 |series=Religion in North America |access-date =2019-01-16}}
• {{cite book |last=Selke |first=R. |title=Ton Und Licht |location=Coburg |date=2003 |url=https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/geschichte/eg/pag/files/katalog_tonundlicht.pdf |chapter=Erfolg und Ruhm am Hof einer Königin |language=de |access-date=2019-01-16 |editor-last=Bosbach |editor-first=Franz |pages=15–8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503200308/https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/phil/geschichte/eg/pag/files/katalog_tonundlicht.pdf |archive-date=2016-05-03 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite book |last=Solovyoff |first=V. S. |title=A Modern Priestess of Isis |location=London |url=http://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophypdfs/solovyoff_modern_priestess_of_isis_1895.pdf |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |date=1895 |author-link=Vsevolod Solovyov |edition= Abridged |translator-last=Leaf |translator-first=Walter |access-date =2019-01-16}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.zeller.de/de/katalog/auktion-120-april-2014/auktionsartikel/hermann-schmiechen-1855-neumarkt-schlesien-war-schueler-von-a-braeuer-und-e-von-gebhardt-sowie/ |title= Turtelndes Liebespaar am Fenster |author=Zeller M. |date=2014 |website=Katalog |location=Lindau |publisher=Auktionshaus Michael Zeller |access-date=2019-01-16 |language=de |ref={{SfnRef|Zeller}}}}

{{Commonscat|Hermann Schmiechen}}

• [https://www.rct.uk/search/site/Schmiechen?f=im_field_search_type:93201 Schmiechen's paintings in the Royal Collection]
• [http://www.austheos.org.au/cgi-bin/ui-csvsearch.pl?search=Schmiechen List of the journal publications by/about Schmiechen]

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Category:1855 births

Category:1920s deaths

Category:19th-century German painters

Category:19th-century German male artists

Category:20th-century German painters

Category:20th-century German male artists

Category:German portrait painters

Category:Académie Julian alumni

Category:Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni

Category:German Theosophists

Category:People from Środa Śląska