Hermann Herzog and Florida
From the early 1890s until around 1912 Hermann Herzog often traveled to Florida, creating over 300 oil paintings of the state. His son, Herman Jr.’s relocation to Gainesville provided the initial motivation for the artist to make the journey, but he fell so much in love with the state's beauty that he returned practically every winter. Herzog sojourned throughout Florida, painting the palmetto hammocks of the gulf and east coasts, and the waters and forests of undeveloped and untamed interiors. He included the wildlife of these areas, depicting the deer, herons, razorbacks, bears and other denizens of the state.
The Philadelphia Times reported in 1899, “M. Thomas & Sons have placed on exhibition in their galleries a large and attractive collection of paintings by Herman [sic] Herzog, which is now being viewed by many interested visitors. The collection is in many respects the most important that Mr. Herzog has shown in Philadelphia in diversity as well as in extent. The Florida series embraces the most extensive canvases and these impressions of the semi-tropical beauty of Florida are in striking contrast to the sturdy landscape[s] of Norway.”
For more information, see Herzog's biography and the book, Hermann Herzog: His Remarkable Life, Unrivaled Florida Work, and Rightful Place in American Art History by Edward Pollack and Deborah C. Pollack.
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The above painting of Florida, ca. 1893 by Hermann Herzog (1832-1932), is included in the new Herzog book by Edward Pollack and Deborah C. Pollack.
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