WOLF, JOSEPH (1820–1899), Anglo-German artist, the son of a German farmer, was born in 1820 at Munstermaifeld, on the river Moselle, in the Rhine Province. In his boyhood he was an assiduous student of bird and animal life, and showed a remarkable capacity as a draughtsman of natural history subjects. His powers were first recognized by Professor Schlegel of the Leiden museum, who gave him employment as an illustrator. In 1848 he settled in London, where he remained till his death on the 20th of April 1899. He made many drawings for the Zoological Society, and a very large number of illustrations for books on natural history and on travel in various countries; but he also won a considerable success as a painter.
See A. H. Palmer, The Life of Joseph Wolf (London, 1895).