biography of George HETZEL (1826-1899)

Birth place: Hangeviller, near Strasbourg, France

Death place: Somerset, PA

Addresses: Pittsburgh, PA

Profession: Landscape, still-life, portrait & figure painter, teacher

Studied: apprenticed to a house & sign painter in Pittsburgh; Düsseldorf Acad., Germany, 1846-48 with Carl F. Sohn and Rudolf Wiegman

Exhibited: PAFA, 1855-69, 1876-81, 1885, 1891; Centennial Expo, Phila., 1876; NAD, 1865-82 (7 annuals); Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair

Work: Westmoreland County Mus. Art, Greenburg, PA; PMA

Comments: Emigrated with his family to Pittsburgh, PA, 1828 and remained in the area most of his career. On his return to Pittsburgh from Düsseldorf he gained recognition for his portraits and still lifes, but by the late 1850s he was also focusing on landscape and in that pursuit achieved considerable popularity for his local scenes, especially Somerset and Cambria counties. He joined with other Pittsburgh artists during the summers to create an artistic community at a mountain retreat called Scalp Level, just outside the city. Hetzel was an educator as well, teaching at the Pittsburgh School of Design for Women for many years.

Sources: G&W; Thieme-Becker; Rutledge, PA; Fleming, History of Pittsburgh, III, 626. More recently, see Chew, ed. Southwestern Pennsylvania Painters, 51-59; For Beauty and for Truth, 66 (w/repro.); Falk, Exh. Record Series.