Johann Velten (1807 - 1883)

Johann Velten

Johann Velten was a German painter of the mid-nineteenth century. He is known as a painter, portraitist and genre painter, a representative of the Düsseldorf school of art.

Velten created paintings in the style of emerging realism. He participated in the revolution of 1848, was arrested, but was later acquitted and released. Vélten continued to work as a portrait painter, mainly creating portraits for the new bourgeoisie, who wanted realistic portraits without romantic idealization. His most famous work, however, was the painting "Prison Scene," depicting the artist himself and his fellow inmates during their imprisonment. The master was also involved in landscape and church painting.