Lot 1562 Dα

After having trained as a business man, Christian Ludwig Bokelmann attended the Düsseldorf Art Academy between 1868 and 1871. In 1892, he became professor of genre and portrait painting at the academy in Karlsruhe and one year later at the academy in Berlin. After the artist's death in the following year his estate was sold over the course of several auctions by J.M. Heberle (H. Lempertz' Söhne), in Cologne and Berlin.
His early works were influenced by the largely humourous paintings of Ludwig Knaus and Benjamin Vautier. However, from the mid the 70's onwards, Bockelmann developed an increasingly serious style which was concerned predominantly with socio-critical subjects and attracted international attention and acclaim. Among some of his more famous works is the „Broken Bank“, housed in the Milwaukee Art Museum. Our painting depicts the distress and helplessness of the residents of a burning house and the willingness of their neighbours to aid, executed in his short phase as professor at Karlsruhe.