Robert Koehler (1850-1917)

Hiro Fine Art is interested in purchasing artworks by Robert Koehler.

Robert Koehler was a German born artist who moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1854. Koehler was primarily known for his portraits, landscapes, genre scenes and was also a highly accomplished lithographer. While in Milwaukee, Koehler went to the German-English Academy to study drawing and was taught by Henry Vianden. Koehler continued to study under Vianden while he apprenticed at Seifert and Lawton which was a lithography firm. Vianden encouraged Koehler to study in Munich and he finally did in 1873. Koehler was only able to study at the Royal Academy in Munich for two years because of his financial constraints.

Upon his return to the United States he lived in Milwaukee briefly working as a lithographer, but moved to New York City and became one of the founding members of the Art Students League. While in New York, Koehler became good friends with a wealthy brewer who financed his return to Germany in 1879. During his return to Munich, he won medals from the Academy and was elected as the President of the American Artists’ Association.

Robert Koehler returned in America in 1892, where he set up a studio in New York City painting mostly portraits. He went to Minneapolis the following year and would spend the remainder of his career there. While in Minneapolis, Koehler served as the Director of the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts and painted many city scenes. One of his most famous paintings is Rainy Evening on Hennepin Avenue (ca.1902) which hangs in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

• 1850 – Born in Germany
• 1854 – Emigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 1873 – Studied at the Royal Academy of Munich
• 1892 – Opened an art studio in New York City
• Served as a director for the Minneapolis School of Fine Art