Biography of Hermann Herzog (1832-1932)
Hermann Ottomar Herzog was born in the city of Bremen, Germany, on November 16, 1832. By 1850 he had enrolled in the Düsseldorf Academy, where he received classroom instruction from J.W. Schirmer and Rudolph Wiegmann, and private lessons with Andreas Achenbach, C. F. Lessing, and the Norwegian artist, Hans Gude. Studying and revering nature in the Düsseldorf tradition, Herzog painted throughout Europe; for instance, in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, and Norway. By the mid 1850s he had established a reputation as a fine artist, with patrons including Queen Victoria and Grand Duke Alexander of Russia. Establishing a studio and home in Grafenberg, Düsseldorf, in the latter 1850s, Herzog continued his success and later became a sought after teacher, with such pupils as Henry Farny in 1868.
On March 3, 1864 Herzog married (Anna Gertrud) Hermine Brandt, and the couple subsequently had two sons— Johann (or John) Robert Emil Hermann (later called Herman Jr.), born on January 4, 1865 in Ludenberg, Düsseldorf, and Lewis Edward (Eduard) Lorenz Herzog, born on October 15, 1870, in Ludenberg as well—not in Philadelphia, as reported by many. Shortly after Lewis’s birth, Herzog made the decision to emigrate, and arrived in Philadelphia in 1871. On August 14 of that year, he declared his intent for naturalization at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
While based in Philadelphia, Herzog traveled and painted extensively throughout the Northeast and the American West. Many art halls, including the National Academy of Design in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, displayed Herzog's paintings, largely on loan by his collectors, and he was well received by the critics of the nineteenth century. At the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Herzog won an award for "excellence in landscape painting" regarding Sentinel Rock, Yosemite, California.
Herzog became a US citizen in 1876, and bringing his family from Europe in 1877, he, Hermine, and their sons eventually settled at 4101 Pine Street in West Philadelphia. After Herman Jr. moved to Gainesville, Florida, in 1893, his father often wintered in the state, painting over 300 oils of its virgin terrain until around 1912.
Herzog died on February 6, 1932 at the age of ninety-nine, not 100, as generally believed. His estate included 1,000 paintings but he had sold thousands more during his remarkable career. For more information, please see Hermann Herzog and Florida and the definitive book about Hermann Herzog.
Sources: Hermann Herzog: His Remarkable Life, Unrivaled Florida Work, and Rightful Place in American Art History, by Edward Pollack and Deborah C. Pollack (Blue Heron Press, 2023); birth certificates for Hermann Herzog, Lewis Herzog, and Herman Herzog Jr. (Bremen and Düsseldorf archives); Düsseldorf marriage documents for Hermann Herzog; Düsseldorf Academy records; Hermann Herzog's naturalization records, ancestry.com; International Exhibition, Philadelphia, March 8, 1876, Report on Awards Citation; Herzog to Levi Mengel, January 4, 1918, Levi W. Mengel Papers, Reading Museum of Art.
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