Elisabeth von Eicken

(Mühlheim/Ruhr 1862–1940 Potsdam)
“Am Saaler Bodden”, verso titled in handwriting and with no. 129, signed E. v. Eicken, oil on canvas, 48 x 61 cm, framed

Elisabeth van Eicken was a landscape painter born in Mülheim an der Ruhr. She studied in many places, including Menton, Geneva, Berlin, and Merano, but most important for her artistic training was her time with the landscape painter Edmond Yon in Paris, where she was also greatly inspired by the work of the artist Alfred Sisley. Her work reflects the teachings of the Barbizon School, which influenced landscape painting in France at the time. They rejected academic teaching of art and focussed more on a direct approach to nature, which is reflected in their style of working in the open air. They were founded by Rousseau and had a great influence on Impressionism. She brought open-air painting with her to Germany, to Ahrenshoop, where she fell in love with the beautiful landscape. Around 1894, von Eicken became a highly respected artist throughout Germany as a freelance artist in the Ahrenshoop artists' colony, to whose founding generation she belonged.