Julius Stockfleth (January 29, 1857 – 1935) was a Denmark-born painter of landscapes and marine subjects. His images of the city of Galveston, Texas, constitute a valuable record of the town between 1885 and 1907, especially its devastation by the hurricane of 1900.

Julius Stockfleth, Hallig Langeness Peterswarf, 1919

Biography

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Julius Stockfleth was born in Wyk auf Föhr in the Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark. He was the son of Louise (Hansen) Stockfleth and Friedrich August Stockfleth, a sailor and ship's carpenter. The area where he lived was taken from Denmark in 1864, and eventually became part of the German Empire. After an apprenticeship with a local painter, he emigrated to the United States in 1883, settling in Galveston in 1885.[1]

During the two decades that Stockfleth lived in Galveston, he frequently painted the city's docks, its harbor, and its ships. He found a good market for this work among the ships' crews. The 1900 hurricane killed a dozen members of his extended family, and as a way to cope with the tragedy he undertook a series of paintings that documented the city during the hurricane and its subsequent rebuilding.[1][2] His are the only known contemporary paintings of the Galveston hurricane.[2] Altogether, Stockfleth left some 100 paintings of Texas subjects painted in a naïve realist style.[2]

He returned to Germany in 1907, living in Wyk until his death and painting local scenes.[1]

Some of his work is in the collection of the Rosenberg Library.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d McGuire, James Patrick. "Stockfleth, Julius". Texas State Historical Association website. Updated June 15, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Ratcliffe, Sam DeShong. Painting Texas History to 1900. University of Texas Press, 1992.

Further reading

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  • Martens, Johannes, and Erik M, eds. Julius Stockfleth: Wyker Sketchbook. Boyens, Heide, 2005.
  • McGuire, James Patrick. Julius Stockfleth. San Antonio, TX: Trinity University Press, 1976.