Karl Wihelm Diefenbach Biography
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach was born in a small town in the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1851.
In 1872, he moved to Munich to enter the Academy of Art.
Here, he was inspired by the Sturm und Drang movement that spread across much of Germany at the end of the 18th century. In this period, Diefenbach met numerous intellectuals dedicated to the cult of nature and research in the folkloristic field, which led him to soon abandon the aristocratic environment in which he spent a few months between 1873 and 1874 employed by the Duke of Nassau.
Following a period of illness, Diefenbach dedicated himself, also through painting, to preaching universal peace and the return to nature. The speech "On the origins of human misery" caused him a period of imprisonment followed by a smear campaign supported by the authorities of the time. For this reason, Diefenbach decided to move to Höllriegelsgereut, where in 1887 he met the German painter Hugo Höppener known as Fidus (1868 – 1948) who became his devoted student. Despite continuous persecution, Diefenbach, supported by a vast array of intellectuals, still had the opportunity to exhibit his works in 1889 and 1891 in the city of Munich, achieving great success.
Invited to court by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1892, the painter arrived in Vienna, a city from which he soon distanced himself because he was not accepted by the authorities due to his non-conformist character. He then settled initially near Cairo and finally in Capri, where he opened a renowned studio frequented by local intellectuals and artists. There he died at the age of sixty-two.
