John Recknagel

John Herman Recknagel, also known as John H. Recknagel the Younger (12 October 1870, Brooklyn – 1940, Fouesnant) was an American painter, residing in France, who worked mostly in Brittany.

Young Woman from Fouesnant

Biography

His father was a wheat and spice merchant from Denmark, and his mother was German. He attended the National Academy of Design then, in 1891, went to France where he studied with Jean-Paul Laurens at the Académie Julian. His first exhibit at the Salon came in 1897.

In 1899 he and his wife, Sybil Withon, of Boston, moved to Concarneau, where he became a friend of his fellow expatriate artist, Charles Fromuth. Beginning in 1906, he and his family lived near Fouesnant in a house they built on the outskirts of town. After World War I, he made occasional visits back to the United States.[1] He is interred at the community cemetery in Fouesnant.

Specializing in landscapes and portraits, he focused on Brittany and his native New York, but also painted scenes from the places he visited; such as Dresden and venice.[2] He never exhibited widely or made any significant effort to sell his works; being able to depend on an inheritance.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven presented a major retrospective of his works in 1998.[1]

References
  1. Biographies in French and English Archived 2015-09-23 at the Wayback Machine @ Concarneau Peintres
  2. Musée Pont-Aven

Further reading
  • David Sellin and Catherine Puget : Peintres américains en Bretagne - 1864 - 1914, Pont-Aven, 1995 ISBN 2-910128-05-9
  • Catherine Puget and Gaëlle Lennon : John Recknagel 1871-1940, exhibition catalog, 1998, Musée de Pont-Aven

Media related to John Recknagel at Wikimedia Commons


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