Mathias Alten

Mathias Joseph Alten ( born February 13, 1871 in Gusenburg; † March 8, 1938 in Grand Rapids, Michigan ) was a German -American impressionist painter.

Life

Mathias Joseph Alten and his family emigrated in 1889 from the Saarland to the United States, where they settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There began an apprenticeship as a sign painter elderly and as a set designer and was also trained by a local painter, Edward A. Turner, in portraiture. In 1899 he traveled to Europe, where he among other things in Paris giving further training at the Académie Julian in painting. After his return to the U.S. he settled back in Grand Rapids, where he had success as a portrait painter.

Subsequently he also devoted himself to landscape painting. Throughout his career, he painted scenes and visited, among other things in Old Lyme, Connecticut, Taos (New Mexico ) as well as in Florida and in different places in Europe, including in the Netherlands and in Spain. From 1905, he was repeatedly invited to participate in major exhibitions, including at the National Academy in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Towards the end of his life was old as the leading painter in Michigan. He died at the age of 67 at his home, 1593 East Fulton Street, Grand Rapids, Michigan. This home is now registered as a monument on the National Register of Historic Places.