Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School
He was the son of a soap-maker. After an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in Halle, he studied at the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School from 1866 to 1871. His teachers were Paul Thumann, Bernhard Plockhorst and Charles Verlat. During the 1870s, he worked at the artists' colonies in Kleinsassen and Willingshausen. He lived in Weimar until 1886, Berlin until 1889, then in Pasing until his death. In 1882, he was appointed a Professor by Grand Duke Charles Alexander. He became a member of the Munich Secession in 1893.