The New International Encyclopædia/Oesterley, Karl Wilhelm

OESTERLEY, ẽ'stẽr-lî, Karl Wilhelm (1805-91). A German historical painter, born at Göttingen, where he studied art-history at the university, before taking up painting in Dresden under Matthäi. After a sojourn in Rome (1825-29), he established himself as a lecturer at Göttingen, and in 1831 was appointed professor of art-history. He supplemented his studies in painting under Schadow at Düsseldorf (1835-38), then in Munich, where he gave his attention to the frescoes of Cornelius, and 1842 in Paris. In 1845, he became Court painter at Hanover. His best works include: “Jephtha's Daughter” (1835); “Leonore with Her Mother” (1847), after Bürger's ballad; “Memling Nursed by the Nuns at Bruges” (1866), all in the Hanover Museum. He also painted altarpieces and several portraits, and in fresco an “Ascension” (1838), in the Royal Chapel, Hanover. With Otfried Müller he edited at Göttingen Denkmäler der alten Kunst (1834-39). His son Karl (1839—), born at Göttingen, became a successful landscape painter. First instructed by his father, he studied afterwards under Bendemann and Deger at the Düsseldorf Academy, but turned from religious subjects, which he essayed originally, to landscape. His frequent study trips to Norway after 1870 resulted in the depiction of such scenes from those regions as “Raft Sound” (1879, Breslau Museum); “View on Salten Fjord” (1882, Hamburg Gallery); “Oldenvand on North Fjord” (1885, National Gallery, Berlin); and “Romsdal Fjord” (1891, Leipzig, Museum); all distinguished by lofty conception, brilliant coloring, and exquisite light effects.