George Hetzel was born in Alsace, France (near Strasbourg) in 1826 and died in Pittsburg in 1899. The Hetzels moved to Pittsburgh when George was only two years old. They were forced to leave Germany in 1849 because of the same political climate that drove Severin Rosen and others to the United States for asylum.

As a boy, he was apprenticed to a house and sign painter, later gaining experience as a muralist for riverboats, cafes and a penitentiary. With the money he earned from interior decorating (murals), Hetzel went to Germany in 1847 to study for two years at the Dusseldorf Academy with Carl Sohn and Rudolph Wiegman. He was one of the few to study in Dusseldorf and to fully absorb the earth toned palette and penchant for realism characterized by the German school. Hetzel would also study still life painting while in Dusseldorf perhaps under, Johann Preyer.

When Hetzel returned to the United States in 1850, his works were of very precise, representational portraits with smooth, even strokes, following the current Dusseldorf style. Sometime between 1863 Hetzel joined a group of Pittsburgh painters at the mountain retreat called Scalp Level and began to paint very precise landscapes, bucolic scenes of pleasant beauty. Considered the founder of the Scalp Level School, Hetzel became a major figure in Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania. . Not only was he influential, he had a statewide presence and exhibited nationally on occasion.

One of Hetzel's greatest contributions was that of teacher at the Pittsburgh School of Design for Women. The curriculum at the School of Design was intended to prepare women to be design professionals rather than practicing artists or teachers. The course work included such offerings as "Elementary Drawing," for which still lifes may have been the subjects.

Hetzel's interest in still life painting was strong and continued throughout his career. His favorite format was a tabletop arrangement of fruit against a dramatically darkened background. Hetzel's compositions sometimes lacked originality once he found a format which was pleasing. This was also typical of other American and expatriate artists of the genre including Severin Roesen who, although brilliant technically, were rather formulaic in their compositional approach. Hetzel's still life paintings strongly resemble those of Johann Preyer and the German school. However, Hetzel, his colleagues and his followers periodically included watermelons in their paintings, which is considered an American fruit and would not have appeared in Dutch or German pictures. The large, dark green form of the watermelon usually looms above the smaller, more colorful fruits in the foreground creating a dramatic contrast in color and light. This format was a favorite of Hetzel's. It is said that his first important sale was of a still life painting to Mary Todd Lincoln although the painting is lost and there is only oral tradition to substantiate this story.

Throughout the 1850s and 1860s, he continued to rely on realistic detail to convey texture and reflected light. In the 1870's, Hetzel began to use his brush more freely. He was also very popular as a portraitist, noted for his sensitivity. All of his work possesses a quality of benevolent quiet and pensiveness.

Hetzel exhibited at the National Academy in New York from 1865 to 1882 and at the Pennsylvania Academy until 1891. He exhibited both still lifes and landscapes at the Pittsburgh Art Association starting in 1859. From 1870 to 1871, three out of the seven paintings Hetzel submitted were still lifes. From 1857 until 1882, Hetzel exhibited eight times at the National Academy of Design in New York with one or two entries per year in 1857, 1858, 1865, 1875, and 1879-82. His sole entries in 1865 and 1875 were still lifes. Hetzel exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and he was the only Pittsburgh artist represented at the 1876 Centennial exposition held in Philadelphia.

Public Collections:
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Wilstach Collection
Listed:
E. Benezit
American Art Analog, vol.1
Dictionary of American Artists, Sculptors and Engravers, Young Exhibition of the National Academy 1861-1900, vol.1

Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton