Hermann David Salomon Corrodi

Biography of Hermann David Salomon Corrodi ( 1844-1905 )

Primarily a landscape artist, who became famous as an orientalist painter, Hermann Corrodi was born in Italy (Frascati) in 1844. He died in Roma in 1905.

He grew up in an artistic family and, from 1860, he studied in the studio of Alexandre Calame in Geneva. In 1866, he entered the Fine Art Academy in Roma, studying with his father, the artist Salomon Corrodi.

He then travelled throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, Constantinopolis and Montenegro, soon building an international reputation as a genre and landscape painter.

In 1872, he studied in Paris, exhibited his works at Munich International Exhibition, and travelled to London where the Royal Family purchased several of his paintings. In 1873, he was awarded a Gold medal at the Vienna Universal Exhibition. From 1876, he used to spend winters in Roma and summers in Baden-Baden, where the German aristocracy commissioned his works, as Kayser Wilhelm II who acquired his "Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem". He was very appreciated by the English Royal Court and exhibited frequently in London; in 1881 "Storm in the desert, Egypt" was presented at The Royal Academy. He also exhibited in Roma, Vienna and Paris (1900 International Exhibition), receiving many prizes and honours.

In 1893, he was knighted ‘Accademico di Merito’ by the Academia de San Luca where he had been a long time professor. He painted in his studio in Roma, inspired by the sketches and studies he had accumulated during his numerous journeys in the Middle East and using many oriental artefacts he had brought back with him.

His style is academic, his paintings are mostly orientalist landscapes, oriental streets and markets scenes, depicted in a combination of earthy and bright colours, very often with the Egyptian pyramids in the background.