Mathias Alten (German/American, 1871-1938)

Signed: M. Alten (Lower, Right)

 “ Two Horses and a Cart ”, 1909

Oil on Canvas Laid on Board

 12” x 16”

Housed in a 2" Frame with a 1/2" Linen Liner

Overall Size: 16 3/4" x 20 5/8"

The painting is in very good original condition, ready to be hung and enjoyed.

German-born American artist Mathias Joseph Alten (1871-1938) immigrated to the United States in 1889 at the age of seventeen. His family settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a premier furniture manufacturing center and a desirable location for immigrants in the late nineteenth century. Here, amidst a rapidly changing world, Alten went on to establish a family, home, and studio for the entirety of his career.

Like many American painters of the period, Alten was drawn to the major artistic and cultural centers of Europe and the United States. Beginning in 1898 and continuing over the next four decades, he traveled extensively to pursue artistic training, exhibit his work, and engage with fellow artists. Despite his attraction to foreign communities, Alten chose to keep his professional home in the same city and state that welcomed his family during the late nineteenth century. As a result, his work was influenced by the landscapes and techniques he discovered abroad, but he also remained deeply connected to the rural Michigan landscape widely featured in his paintings.

Over his career, Alten created more than 3,000 works of art, initially influenced by the Barbizon and Hague Schools and later by the Impressionism movement. He repeatedly sought out and celebrated traditional laborers and nostalgic settings even as modernization transformed life in the early twentieth century.