Hello, my name is Emily Holtrop. I am the director of learning & interpretation at the museum. I will be reading the timeline of Henry Mosler’s life for Henry Mosler Behind the Scenes: In Celebration of the Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial.

1841   Born in Troplowitz, Silesia, a Prussian village currently in Poland (called Opawica). He was the oldest of nine children of Gustave Mosler (1816–1874) and Sophie Weiner Mosler (1818–1905).

1849   Mosler family immigrates to the United States, arriving in New York City.

1851   Family settles in Cincinnati.

1853   The Moslers move to Nashville, Tennessee, where Henry takes his first drawing lessons from a lithographer.

1854   Again in Cincinnati, Gustave opens an engraving and lithography firm and sells cigars. He is also the editor of a German-language newspaper (He enters the safe business—later the Mosler Safe Company—in 1863.)

1856   Starts a business "Henry Mosler…Engravers on Wood" at 223 Walnut Street and studies at night at Lovie’s Drawing School

1858   Mosler family relocates to Richmond, Indiana, where Henry studies with painter and hatmaker, George Kerr.

1859   Returns to Cincinnati and begins two years of study with the city’s foremost painter, James Henry Beard

1861–63       During the Civil War, employed as an artist-correspondent for Harper’s Weekly.

Is an aide-de-camp in the Union Army with the rank of lieutenant and, in late 1862, serves under General R. W. Johnson of the Army of the Ohio

1863–65        Studies art at the Düsseldorf Academy in Germany, then for six months in Paris, France, under Ernest Hébert

1866–74        Mostly in Cincinnati, painting and exhibiting portraits and genre scenes. Founding member of Associated Artists of Cincinnati

1869–70        Marries Sarah Cahn of Cincinnati (1848–1902); Arthur Rembrandt Mosler, the first of five children, is born before they decamp for New York City, where they stay for about a year.

1874–77        Embarks for Europe and travels through England, Belgium, and Germany. At the Royal Academy in Munich, he pursues further education and wins a medal in 1875.

1878             Establishes a studio in Paris and takes students. Begins to exhibit at the annual Salon, the juried exhibition of the French state, and in 1879 wins an honorable mention, the first of many awards (wins gold medal in 1883, etc.)

1880             Visits Grandcamp on France’s Normandy coast, a favorite scenic retreat for sketching and family relaxation

1885             Travels to the United States. Cincinnati Museum Association hosts reception in his honor at Music Hall. In December, travels to New Mexico and Arizona with artist Charles T. Webber to make studies for two monumental paintings, a commission for H. H. Warner

1886–87        Teaches a class for men and women in his Paris studio

1888–90        Visits Cincinnati and spends several months in New York City

1891             Opens an intermediate class for women in Paris

1892             French government names Mosler a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur and an Officer of L’Académie française, conferring honors of high regard

1893             Receives gold medal from Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria

1894             Relocates to the United States, establishing headquarters in New York City at the Carnegie Hall Studios

1895             Elected associate member of the National Academy of Design

1896             Exhibitions at Pape Brothers Moulding Company, Cincinnati, and Avery Galleries, New York City

1900             Exhibition in New York of 90 paintings then sold at auction

1906             Visits Egypt with his son Gustave, who is also an artist

1911             Is a member of Masonic Lodges, including Hanselmann Lodge No. 208 in Cincinnati, popular with German nationals

1914             Becomes ill and moves in with his daughter Agnes (Mrs. Otto Marx) in New York City. Resigns from the National Academy of Design when passed over for full membership

1920             On April 21, Mosler dies in the home of his son Fred in New York City.

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