The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Oberländer, Adolf

OBERLÄNDER, ō-bėr-län'dėr, Adolf, German caricaturist and artist: b. Regensburg, 1 Oct. 1845. In 1861 he entered the Munich Art Academy and later became a pupil of Pilotys, making brilliant progress under his instruction. He found that historical painting did not suit his particular talent, which he early revealed in a humorous cartoon published in ‘Fliegende Blätter’ (1863). He subsequently abandoned painting and devoted his entire time to humorous and satirical designs, which showed such striking virtuosity that he became the leading artist on the staff of ‘Fliegende Blätter.’ He is strong as a caricaturist and exquisitely delicate as a draughtsman, and his use of satire and ridicule is good-natured and avoids the coarseness and brutality sometimes too apparent in the pages of the comic papers. The majority of his cartoons have been collected and published in the ‘Oberländer Album’ (Munich 1879-1901). Oberländer's subjects are taken from mythology, fairy lore, fables, animal life and the customs and habits of the German middle class. He is also a painter of some note; and pictures of his are in the galleries of Munich, Berlin, Dresden and other cities of Germany and in private collections.