Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Mosler, Henry

MOSLER, Henry, artist, b. in New York city, 6 June, 1841. He went with his family to Cincinnati in 1851, and three years later to Nashville, Tenn. Here his talent for art was first shown by some engravings that he made on blocks of wood with crude tools. After this his father gave him what assistance he could toward perfecting his drawing, and he obtained later his first knowledge of painting in oils from George Kerr, an amateur. In 1855 he returned with his family to Cincinnati, where for a year he was a draughtsman for the “Omnibus,” a comic weekly. He then went to Richmond, whence he returned in 1857. In 1859 he became a pupil of James H. Beard, in whose studio he painted until 1861. In 1862-'3 he followed the western army as art correspondent for “Harper's Weekly.” He was appointed on Gen. William Nelson's staff, and while the army was in camp painted portraits of that officer, Gen. Richard W. Johnson, Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, and others. He went to Europe in 1863, studying for two and a half years under Mücke and Kindler in Düsseldorf, and for six months under Ernest Hébert in Paris. He returned to the United States in 1866, remaining eight years, during which time he produced numerous pictures, notably his “Lost Cause,” which achieved for him a national reputation. On his return to Europe in 1874 he studied for three years under Piloty in Munich, where he won a medal at the Royal academy. In 1877 he removed to Paris, where he has since resided, with the exception of a brief visit to this country in 1885, when he exhibited a collection of his works in New York and Cincinnati. His “Le retour,” exhibited at the Paris salon of 1879, was bought by the French government for the Musée du Luxembourg, and in 1885 he was the recipient at the exhibition of the American art association of one of the four cash prizes for his “Last Sacrament.” He also won a medal at the international exhibition at Nice in 1884. His best-known works include “Early Cares” and “Quadroon Girl” (1878); “The Return” and “Les femmes et les secrets” (1879); “Purchase of the Wedding Gown” and “Spinning Girl” (1880); “Night after the Battle” and “Return of the Fisherwomen” (1881); “Discussing the Marriage Contract” (1882); “Wedding Morning” and “Rainy Day” (1883); “Last Sacrament” and “Village Clockmaker” (1884); “Approaching Storm” (1885); and “Visit of the Marquise” (1886-'7).