(Dittelsheim near Worms 1810–1872 Frankfurt am Main) The Storm, Country Folk in the Fields Rushing to Save their Village from the Fire which has been started by Lightening, signed and dated . Becker 1841, oil on canvas, 39 x 52 cm, framed, (W)

Compare: Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, Vol. I,1 no. 13. Jakob Becker : After attending F.N.Jung’s drawing school in Worms, Becker was an observer at the Städelschen Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main from 1827, moving later to the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf to study under W. Schadow. In Frankfurt his subject matter had mainly been taken from the medieval period whereas he now turned to romantic themes. Influenced by A. Schroedter and R. Jordan, during the late 1830’s he dedicated himself chiefly to painting scenes of folk life. The paintings from this period are characterised by the dense composition of the protagonists, drawn into close relationships with one another, and often lent a sense of drama by means of a stormy atmosphere in the background. After his success in Düsseldorf in the 1840’s, Becker was appointed as head of a painting class at the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main. (Compare: Lexikon der Düsseldorfer Malerschule, published by Bruckmann, 1997 Munich, Vol. 1, p.93f.) We are grateful to Dr Christoph Andreas for assistance in cataloguing this work.