Description: Ernst Zimmermann (Munich 1852 - 1901)
Zimmermann received his first art lessons from his father, Reinhard Sebastian Zimmermann, in 1868. He then attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and became a student of Wilhelm von Diez, with whom he worked until 1874. After painting several humorous genre pictures, he returned to history painting in 1879 with The Twelve Years-Old Christ in the Temple, with a particular emphasis on the coloristic element, which was partly inspired by the Venetians and partly by Antonio da Correggio. Ernst Karl Georg, who lived in his father's house in Munich, often visited Hagnau on Lake Constance, where he acquired the Löwen Inn in 1879. During one of his rides from Munich to Lake Constance, he suffered an injury from a horse that kicked out of control, which resulted in a nervous disorder that lasted for years. The Löwen became too strenuous for him, so he sold it and seized the opportunity to purchase the Glaserhäusl in Meersburg, which was already home to Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. He set up his studio here and spent many weeks of the year there.
He died at the age of 49 from the effects of an open leg fracture sustained on the street near his Munich apartment. His later major works, distinguished by their subtlety and charming characterization, include: The Adoration of the Shepherds (1883), Christ and the Fishermen (1886), Christ Consolator (1888), and the genre paintings: Music Lesson, The Angry Goose, The Braggart, and The Business Friends. His fish still lifes were considered unrivaled by his contemporaries.
He was a royal professor. He had an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances, including Wilhelm Leibl, Franz von Lenbach, Wilhelm Busch, and even Prince Regent Luitpold.