The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Meyer, Johann Georg

MEYER, Johann Georg, commonly known as ‘Meyer von Bremen,’ German painter: b. Bremen, 28 Oct. 1813; d. Berlin. 4 Dec. 1886. In his 2lst year he went to Düsseldorf and began his studies under Sohn and Schadow; in 1841 he opened a studio of his own but removed to Berlin as his fame increased (1853). While scenes from the Bible were first the subjects of his brush, he later turned his attention to incidents of popular life, especially among the Hessian peasantry, and finally to the portrayal of family life in its pathetic aspect. Such pictures as ‘The Jubilee of a Hessian Pastor’ (1843); ‘Christmas Eve’; ‘Blindman's Buff’; ‘The Soldier's Return’; ‘The Inundation’ (1846); ‘The Repentant Daughter’ (1852, in the gallery at Bremen), are full of intense sympathy with the ‘simple annals of the poor.’ After taking up his residence at Berlin, he chose especially scenes from child life, which he rendered with spirited humor. Among his pictures of this kind are ‘The Fairy Tale’; ‘Children Playing Blindman's Buff’; ‘Grandfather and Grandchild,’ etc. A third group of his pictures includes those of young women, as single figures or in groups. Such are ‘The Tryst’; ‘The Love Letter.’ An excellent example of his work, ‘The Letter’ (1873), is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. All his works are distinguished by true human feeling, truthfulness and thoroughness of execution.