Johann Christian Klengel

1751 Kesselsdorf – 1824 Dresden

The landscape painter and etcher Johann Christian Klengel was born in Kesselsdorf near Dresden into a peasant family. He apprenticed himself to Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, who regarded his pupil almost like an adoptive son and in whose house he lived from 1768 until Dietrich’s death in 1774. Under his mentor’s influence Klengel turned to landscape painting and was soon considered to be one of the most significant representatives of his trade in Germany. As early as 1777 he was admitted to membership of the Dresden Academy and proved to be an influential teacher in the years that followed. Wholly in tune with the sentimental taste of his time, Klengel was a master of the idyllic, pastoral landscape. Goethe was a great admirer of the artist and an eager collector of his works. Klengel was also a tireless etcher, producing more than two hundred prints.