Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hering, George Edwards
HERING, GEORGE EDWARDS (1805–1879), landscape-painter, born in London in 1805, was younger son of a German who, although belonging to the baronial family of von Heringen in Brunswick, was established as a bookbinder in London. At an early age he lost his father. Hering was at first placed as clerk in a bank, but was soon permitted by his family to adopt art as his profession. In 1829 he studied in the art school at Munich, and was patronised by Lord Erskine, who sent him with letters of introduction to Venice. After residing there for about two years, he travelled in Italy, and round the Adriatic to Constantinople, Smyrna, &c. On his return to Rome he became acquainted with John Paget, and with Paget and Mr. Sanford went on a tour through Hungary and Transylvania among the Carpathian mountains. Paget published an account of this tour with illustrations by Hering, and Hering on his return to England published in 1838 a volume of ‘Sketches on the Danube, in Hungary, and Transilvania, etc.’ While a resident at Rome, Hering, owing to his mixed origin, was able to bring together the somewhat rival colonies of German and English artists in that city. Finally he settled in London, where he practised as a landscape-painter for the rest of his life, paying occasional visits to Italy. His favourite subject was Italian scenery, in which he showed a free touch, careful finish, and bright, lucid colouring. He especially excelled in lake scenery. In 1836 he first exhibited at the Royal Academy, sending ‘The Ruins of the Palace of the Cæsars, Rome,’ and was a regular contributor from that time to the Academy and to the British Institution. In 1841 he exhibited a painting of ‘Amalfi,’ which, through the agency of Samuel Rogers, was purchased by the prince consort; it was engraved by E. Goodall for the ‘Art Journal’ in 1856, and a similar painting of ‘Capri,’ also purchased for the royal collection, was engraved for the same journal by R. Brandard. Hering seldom painted subjects of British scenery, though a few Scottish scenes by him are noteworthy. A picture of ‘Tambourina’ was engraved for him by C. G. Lewis. A small example of his painting is in the South Kensington Museum. In 1847 he published a set of twenty coloured lithographs, ‘The Mountains and Lakes in Switzerland, the Tyrol, and Italy.’ Hering died in London in 1879. His wife was also an artist, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1853 and 1858.
[Art Journal, 1861, p. 73; Bryan's Biog. and Critical Dict. of Painters and Engravers, ed. Graves; Clement and Hutton's Artists of the Nineteenth Century; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1880, vol. i.]