Gustav Jacob Canton (1813 - 1885)

Gustav Jacob Canton

Gustav Jacob Canton was a German landscape and animal painter and illustrator of the Düsseldorf School. He received his first lessons in painting and drawing from the painters Nikolaus Müller and Louis Catoir. In 1832 he moved to Munich and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts until 1836. From there he undertook study trips to the Bavarian mountains, to Tyrol and to Switzerland. In 1837 he went to Düsseldorf to deepen his knowledge of landscape painting at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. In 1844 Canton founded the democratic and academy-critical group Crignic, whose name is made up of the initials of the members. This group is considered the forerunner of the Malkasten artists' association, founded in 1848, to which he also belonged. In 1851, Canton was among the artists whose works were on display at the Düsseldorf Gallery in New York City. In the same year he traveled to England and Scotland, where he worked as a lithographer. In the 1850s he illustrated several books.

Date and place of birt:	7 april 1813, Mainz, Germany
Date and place of death:	20 march 1885, Munich, Germany
Nationality:	Germany
Period of activity:	XIX century
Specialization:	Animalist, Artist, Genre painter, Graphic artist, Illustrator, Landscape painter, Painter
Art school / group:	Düsseldorf school of painting, Gruppe Crignic, Malkasten Artists' Association
Genre:	Animalistic, Genre art, Landscape painting, Rural landscape
Art style:	Realism
Technique:	Hand graphic, Lithography, Oil, Oil on canvas, Pencil