August Bresgen

1888 Holsterhausen (near Essen) – 1987 Munich

 

 

August Bresgen stood out through his extraordinary artistic talent and technical excellence which he perfected during his numerous travels by making oil sketches and reproductions after the Old Masters. After stays in Belgium and Holland, at the early age of 18 the young painter obtained a highly sought-after permit to copy artworks at the Louvre in Paris. This practice allowed him to learn his profession and improve his skills. Even today August Bresgen is considered to be the most significant copyist of the 20^th century.

In his paintings and oil sketches the artist succeeded in exposing the essence of the depicted subjects. With a great sense of composition, colour and shape he gave his paintings a particular expressive quality. Generally, August Bresgen directly painted in oil and only produced a few pencil or charcoal drawings. By immediately capturing his visual impressions in colour, he developed a fast and likewise accurate style. Besides paintings, he created busts and life-sized sculptures in plaster, clay and wood, of which some were cast in bronze.