Edmund Johann Niemann (1813-1876) British, Oil on Canvas. Panoramic landscape with woman walking on a pathway. Signed lower center. 

Overall: 13 X 21 in. 

Sight: 7 1/2 X 15 1/4 in. 

Depth: 2 in. 

#2682 . 

Edmund Johann Niemann was born in Islington, London in 1813. His father, John Diedrich Niemann, was a native of Minden, Westphalia and was a member of Lloyd’s, working in the city. While still in his teens Edmund became employed as a clerk at Lloyd’s, but eventually chose to devote himself to art, and in 1839 settled in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, mostly painting outdoors. Though he especially enjoyed painting the scenery of the Thames and of the River Swale near Richmond in Yorkshire, many other areas of the British Isles are covered in the corpus of his work. Between 1844 and 1872, he exhibited paintings at many prestigious galleries including the Royal Academy, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists and the Royal Scottish Academy, even gaining acceptance at the Paris Salon. Niemann and a number of other artists, including Edward Armitage, grew dissatisfied with the exclusiveness and insular criticism common to the management of the leading art societies of the day. This led to the foundation of the “Free Exhibition” held in the Chinese Gallery at Hyde Park Corner, which opened with 500 works of art including sculpture. In 1850 this became the Portland Gallery, Regent Street, and Niemann was chosen as one of the trustees and made the honorary secretary. The society later assumed the name “The National Institution,” but they dissolved in 1861 over artistic differences. His impact on landscape painting was long-lasting, and his son became a painter in the same style. Nine of his paintings are held in a permanent exhibit at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery. The last decade of his life was marred by an ongoing undiagnosed illness, and he died suddenly of apoplexy at Brixton Hill, Surrey on April 15th, 1876.