A Dear Visitor by Max Kurzweil

Title: Ein lieber Besuch (A Dear Visitor)
Artist: Max Kurzweil (1867-1916)
Made: 1894

Max Kurzweil's 'A Dear Visitor' was created in 1894 and the original painting is in Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The original size of the work is 94 x 125 cm and is made of oil on canvas. The Artist, Max Kurzweil (1867 - 1916), was an Austrian painter and printmaker. He moved near Vienna in 1879. The canvas depicts a touching scene of farewell to a mortally wounded officer with his battle horse. The painting is called Ein Lieber Besuch. In different sources, such options are used for its designation: “Faithful Friend”, “Last Visitor” and “Goodbye”. The dying officer is no longer able to get out of bed on his own. A soldier lifts him up so that he can touch his loyal friend and comrade-in-arms one last time. The horse recognized the owner. Despite the unfamiliar and frightening situation came up to him. It seems that he is trying to understand what is happening, why the officer does not come to him anymore, why he is so helpless, and not full of strength and courage, as before? No one holds the horse, but the second soldier standing at the wall controls the situation.


Source :
https://www.canvastar.com/en/max-kurzweil-a-dear-visit
https://sammlung.belvedere.at/objects/1260/ein-lieber-besuch
https://vk.com/wall-2583731_12915?lang=en

British Grenadiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Title: Battle of Bunker Hill
Artist: Edward Percy Moran
Date: 1909

A depiction of the battle of Bunker Hill by Edward Percy Moran (1862-1935), known for his scenes of American history. This significant battle took place on 17 June 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill. Although the uniform details are inaccurate, the formation of the British grenadiers advancing uphill toward the Americans behind prepared positions is largely representative of the closeorder formation used by the British during their assault. After the experience of the retreat from Lexington, British commander Lieutenant-General Thomas Gage ordered his men to form in two rather than three ranks but retained the close-order formation. Although Gage attempted to outflank the American position, a quick reaction by American commanders frustrated British efforts and resulted in a sustained firefight on unequal terms. The British grenadiers were ordered to assault the American lines with the bayonet but their close-order formations made it difficult for them to cross several fences and as the formations lost cohesion the grenadiers lost momentum. As a result many grenadiers began to fire at the enemy rather than carry home their charge. In the aftermath of Bunker Hill British commanders understood that the bayonet was the most effective weapon against the untrained Americans. Conversely, American commanders realized that effective use of terrain and cover, including walls, fences, and woods, could negate some of the lethal nature of the British bayonet charge.

Source :

Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/371124825518568626/

Gideon von Laudon at the Battlefield of Kunersdorf

Title: Gideon von Laudon nach seinem Sieg über das Schlachtfeld bei Kunersdorf reitend (Gideon von Laudon riding after the victory over the battlefield of Kunersdorf)
Artist: Siegmund L'Allemand
Date: 1878

Baron Ernst Gideon von Laudon (German: Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon (originally Laudohn or Loudon) (February 2, 1717 – July 14, 1790) was an Austrian generalisimo, one of the most successful opponents of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, allegedly lauded by Alexander Suvorov as his teacher. He served the position of military governorship of Habsburg Serbia from his capture of Belgrade in 1789 until his death, cooperating with the resistance fighters of Koča Anđelković.

The Battle of Kunersdorf, fought in the Seven Years' War, was Frederick the Great's most devastating defeat. On August 12, 1759, near Kunersdorf (Kunowice), east of Frankfurt (Oder), 50,900 Prussians were defeated by a combined allied army 65,000 strong consisting of 41,000 Russians and 24,000 Austrians under Pyotr Saltykov. Only 3,000 soldiers from the original 50,900 comprising the Prussian army returned to Berlin after the battle, though many more had only scattered and were ultimately able to join the army afterward.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kunersdorf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Gideon_von_Laudon

Danish Attack at Dybbøl (1864)

Title: Ottende brigades angreb ved Dybbøl 18. april 1864 (Eighth Brigade's attack at Dybbøl 18 April 1864)
Artist: Vilhelm Rosenstand
Date: 1894

On the morning of 18 April 1864 at Dybbøl, the Prussians moved into their positions at 2.00. At 10.00 the Prussian artillery bombardment stopped and the Prussians charged through shelling from the Rolf Krake which did not prove enough to halt them. Thirteen minutes after the charge, the Prussian infantry had already seized control of the first line of defence of the redoubts.

A total massacre of the retreating troops was avoided and the Prussian advance halted by a counter-attack by the 8th Brigade, until a Prussian attack threw them back; that attack advanced about 1 km and reached Dybbøl Mill. In that counter-attack the 8th Brigade lost about half their men, dead or wounded or captured. This let the remnants of 1st and 3rd Brigades escape to the pier opposite Sønderborg. At 13.30 the last resistance collapsed at the bridgehead in front of Sønderborg. After that there was an artillery duel across the Alssund.

During the battle around 3,600 Danes and 1,200 Prussians were either killed, wounded or disappeared. A Danish official army casualty list at the time said: 671 dead; 987 wounded, of whom 473 were captured; 3,131 unwounded captured and/or deserters; total casualties 4,789. The 2nd and 22nd Regiments lost the most. Also, the crew of the Danish naval ship Rolf Krake suffered one dead, 10 wounded.

The Battle of Dybbøl was the first battle monitored by delegates of the Red Cross: Louis Appia and Charles van de Velde. Following the battle, the Prussians used the fort area as a starting point to attack Als in June 1864.

Source :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dybb%C3%B8l

The Battle of Lexington (1775)

Title: The Battle of Lexington (1775)
Artist: William Barnes Wollen
Date: 1910

A painting of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 1775) by William Barnes Wollen (1857–1936). Courtesy of the Council, National Army Museum, London, UK. The disposition of the British troops and American colonists in the painting represents the prevailing image of closely ranked British engaging a loosely formed enemy. The colonists were drawn up in a formal line on the village green at Lexington where, after refusing to disperse, they were fired upon by British regulars deployed in a three-rank, close-order formation. While some of the colonists that engaged in the running battle with the British on April 19, 1775 may have been veterans of the French and Indian War, they had little organization or training. After that initial exchange of musketry the American tactics largely involved hit-and-run attacks on the British column returning to Boston. The Colonists made extensive use of available cover, stone walls, and fences, and repeatedly forced the British to deploy from march column into line, only to find the Americans had dispersed.

Source :

Book "Continental versus Redcoat: American Revolutionary War" by David Bonk

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

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

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