Friedrich The Great after the Seven years' War

Title: Friedrich der Große nach dem Siebenjährigen Krieg in der Eosander-Kapelle von Schloss Charlottenburg (Frederick The Great after the Seven years' War in the Eosander Chapel of Schloss Charlottenburg)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1889

King Friedrich II of Prussia sitting in a chair while listening to the sounds of a choir. Kampf characterize the powerful ruler in a highly expressive and gloom mood. Large Format main work of the artist from his early Berlin period of creativity.

Arthur Kampf studied at the art academy in Düsseldorf under Peter Janssen the Elder.  Afterwards he took a position as an assistant teacher initially and then as a professor at the academy.  In 1898 he moved to Berlin.  Here he became a member and later President of the Royal Academy of Arts.  From 1915 to 1925 he was director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. As a history painter Kampf created numerous monumental commissions and paintings with allegorical and historical or war themes. The majority of Kampf's oeuvre is now lost or was destroyed in the war

Source :

http://www.askart.com/artist/Arthur_Kampf/11043732/Arthur_Kampf.aspx#

https://schloss-ahlden.de/catidx.php?mode=obj&id=15413676

Friedrich the Great Carrying the Flag (1758)

Title: Friedrich der grosse als Fahnentrager auf dem Schlachtfeld’ (Frederick the Great as standard-bearer at the battlefield)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1900

On 25 August 1758 Prussian army defeated the numerically stronger forces of Russian Army at Zorndorf (approximately 90 kilometers east of Berlin) with superior organization. During the battle, Prussian king Friedrich II had taken the flag of  Prussian Infantry Regiment Nr.46 that lying on the ground and then led his retreating soldiers to a successful counterattack. Inspired by this event, German painter Arthur Kampf recreated the King Friedrich's Prowess 150 years later. In contrast to the many detailed and colorful battle scenes from that time, King Friedrich and the flag fill the whole height of the painting. Friedrich placed expansively in the foreground., Only dimly behind the dense smoke powder as a recognition to Prussian soldiers who will bring unity and dynamism for the next glorious attack. The painting staged Friedrich as a model for unconditional sacrifice: The Carrying of the Flag resolutely onward, it seem that the King does not fear for death, even though the fallen soldier has been pictured to his right and left. The German painter used the motif of the flag that had been used since the Prussian-Danish war in 1864 as a symbol for victory. However, he had made a significant error in his paintings: The four corner keys of the flag of the infantry regiment No. 46 were not red but black. Arthur Kampf, ‘Friedrich der grosse als Fahnentrager auf dem Schlachtfeld’ (‘Frederick the Great as standard-bearer at the battlefield’) now in the possession of German Historical Museum, Berlin.

Source :
https://www.dhm.de/lemo/bestand/objekt/friedrich-der-grosse-als-fahnentraeger-auf-dem-schlachtfeld-um-1900.html

War Enthusiasm at the Start of World War I (1914)

Title: 1 August 1914 in Berlin
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1914

Russia mobilized his troops against Austria-Hungary on 31 July 1914. The Germans responded on the evening of 1 August 1914 with the mobilization of its troops. This painting by Arthur Kampf (1864-1950), entitled '1. August 1914 in Berlin' (1914) captures the moment between the two mobilization. Before a crowd in Berliner Schloss, a man has climbed to a lamppost with the Empire flag in his left hand and speaks to the crowd. This painting is now currently displayed at the German Historical Museum, Berlin.

Source :
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1716&language=german

The Last Statement in Front of the Police Officer (1886)

Title: Die Letzte Aussage (The Last Statement)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1886

While still a student at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Arthur Kampf produced a painting that caused a real stir on account of its size coupled with its theme. The subject of controversy in the dailies and the trade journals, the work won many prizes and, after first going on display in 1886 was very popular and laid the foundations for his career. The socially critical depiction of a man fatally injured, whose last statement is being jotted down by a policeman as he lies dying, was firmly in the tradition of ‘painting poor people’ that emerged in the second half of the 19th century. The artist to great effect intermingles the scene of the realistically portrayed man dying with representational motifs drawn from Christian art, constructing a pictorial space with life-size figures. One stands opposite them and becomes the witness of the dramatic events. From the 1890s onwards, Arthur Kampf emerged as one of Germany’s most important history painters of his day, and his works were widely received in Germany through 1945. (Sabine Schroyen)

Source :
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/the-last-statement/YAF8GuTQzOD0Ig?hl=en

Friedrich the Great and His Troops Singing at Leuthen (1757)

Title: Der Choral von Leuthen (The Hymn of Leuthen)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1887

Arthur Kampf, ‘Der Choral von Leuthen’ (‘The Hymn of Leuthen’), created in 1887. The Battle of Leuthen, 5 December 1757. Friedrich (Frederick) the Great and his troops singing hymns to thank God for their victory over the Austrians during the Seven Years War. The song was composed in the 17th century by Johannes Crüger and inspired Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1939 the Reichsgau Köln-Aachen gave the painting to Hermann Göring for his 46th birthday. Nowadays in the possession of the Neue Pinakothek in Munich.

Source :
http://www.germanartgallery.eu/mobile/Webshop/0/product/info/Arthur_Kampf,_Good_Friday&id=42

German Soldiers in a French Church (1915)

Title: Karfreitag in einer französischen Kirche (Good Friday in a French Church)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1915

Also known as 'Wir treten zum Beten vor Gott den Gerechten' ('We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing'). This painting was created in 1915, once hung in the Great German Art Exhibition of 1939, Saal 03. Nowadays it is in the possession of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preusischer Kulturbesitz, Nationalgalerie.

'Wir treten zum Beten' is an old prayer song with Dutch origins going back to the Battle of Turnhout in 1597, where the Dutch defeated the Spaniards. The song was very popular during the time of the German Kaiserreich. Later, the National Socialists used the song often in their propaganda. It would emphasise the blessing of God on the Third Reich as successor of the German Kaiserreich.

Source :
http://www.germanartgallery.eu/mobile/Webshop/0/product/info/Arthur_Kampf,_Good_Friday&id=42

Public Viewing of the Corpse of Kaiser Wilhelm I (1888)

Title: Die Aufbahrung Kaiser Wilhelm I (The body of Kaiser Wilhelm I lying in state)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1900

Also known as 'Aufbewahrung Kaiser Wilhelm I. im Berliner Dom' (Public Viewing of the Corpse of Kaiser Wilhelm I. in the Dome in Berlin). Displayed at the Grosse Münchener Kunstausstellung in the Glaspalast, 1922. In the possession of the Neue Pinakothek, Munich 

Source :
http://www.germanartgallery.eu/en/Webshop/0/product/info/Arthur_Kampf,_Mit_Mann_und_Ross_und_Wagen&id=209

The Defeated French Soldiers Coming Back from Russia (1812)

Title: Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen (With man and horse and carriage, it has beaten by God)
Artist: Arthur Kampf
Date: 1895

'Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen', which Arthur Kampf created in 1895, depicts the defeated French soldiers coming back (to Germany) from Russia in 1812. The painting 'Mit Mann und Ross und Wagen' has been in the possession of the ‘Schlesisches Museum für bildende Künste' in Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland), but is missing since 1922. 'Mit Mann und Ross und wagen, so hat sie Gott geschlagen' are also the first words of a German folksong from 1813. The song comments on a complete defeat of the French troops in Russia in 1812. Napoleon, the Emperor of France since 1804, defeated the German army in October 1806 at Jena and Auerstedt. After the defeat in Russia, it took another year before Germany was liberated from the French. In the Battle of Leipzig the foundation was created for the German Empire of 1871. The slogan 'Mit Mann und Roß und Wagen hat sie der Herr geschlagen“ was later used by the Nazis when they invaded Poland.

Source :

http://www.germanartgallery.eu/en/Webshop/0/product/info/Arthur_Kampf,_Mit_Mann_und_Ross_und_Wagen&id=209