Hans Thoma: German Semi- Pre-Raphaelite
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0qWGIgk8DZlfz0w8h4VBuJF2pVYJGv0g9nYKGOGy8rFekoSSJ2-P07tbDbqHOzyO78yFWuKqI4G7a1LeH06GcSLuc5smnCPFf3doi6qPY9iowGrj3JftI9vFTRS1pBUrxN3ezYFQVNM/s1600/Self-portrait+with+Love+and+Death+-+1875.jpg)
Hans Thoma (1839-1924), according to some sources Germany's most popular artist around the turn of the 20th century, is difficult to characterize. Well, it's difficult for me. I used the label Pre-Raphaelite in the title of this post mostly because the feeling of a number of his works echoes that of the English group. But other works, especially those dealing with religious themes, might be termed Symbolist. Yet Pre-Raphaelite paintings often had large doses of what later became classed as Symbolism. Sigh: I find this taxonomy stuff frustrating, and should learn to leave that to professional art critics and curators. Thoma's English Wikipedia entry is here , but for more information I suggest you click on the left-hand panel, select Deutsch, and have it translated if you don't know German. Otherwise, a bit more biographical information in English is here . He was born in a small town in the Black Forest, far from from Munich and other art centers, and more than 3