Albert KORNEK (1813-1905) - A young shooter

Albert KORNEK (Breslau, 1813 – Berlin, 1905)
A Young Marksman
1880
Oil on canvas
Stamp of the artist’s collection on the stretcher
H: 78.5 cm ; W: 65.5 cm
Provenance: posthumous sale of the artist, February 20, 1905, Berlin, Rudolph Lepke

A painter in the wake of German Realism;
Born in 1813 in Breslau, Germany, Albert Kornek was initially destined for the clergy, but his precocious talent as a painter was noticed as early as the 1830s. He therefore entered the Berlin Academy in 1833, where he studied painting under von Klöber before joining Karl Sohn’s studio in Düsseldorf. He belongs to that generation of 19th-century German artists who, in the wake of late Romanticism and the realist movements, sought to combine naturalistic precision with heroic idealization. Both a portraitist and a painter of romantic subjects inspired by Goethe or folk tales, he became a professor in Berlin in the 1840s, where he worked as a portraitist and painter of religious subjects for the Prussian court.

Active during the second half of the century, his work remains little known today, though well documented by solid sources: his name appears in the repertory of Friedrich von Boetticher, the standard reference for the study of German painting of this era.
His work is rooted in the great academic tradition of a unified Germany, attentive both to accuracy of representation and to rigorous plastic construction, while aspiring to moral elevation through subject matter. Kornek contributed to this movement, which placed the human figure at the center of narratives both historical, allegorical, and of genre.
Our painting, dated 1880 and identified at the posthumous sale of the artist under the title Junger Schütze (A Young Marksman), demonstrates Kornek’s mastery of portraiture at the crossroads between genre scene and heroic figuration.
The work depicts a young crossbowman, his youthful, radiant face caught in an attitude of pride and momentum. The model, shown in three-quarter view, carries his weapon slung across his shoulder, one hand resting on his hip, his gaze turned toward an invisible horizon. The expression, at once grave and dreamy, gives the composition dramatic intensity, as if the figure stood on the threshold of his destiny.
The palette, dominated by deep browns and blacks, highlights the brightness of the face and hands, accentuating the contrast between shadow and light. The brushwork, precise without rigidity, reveals a solid academic training. The silhouette stands out against a dark background lightly animated by a twilight sky, enhancing the theatrical effect.

Between academic tradition and romantic exaltation;
More than a simple portrait, Junger Schütze belongs to a lineage of heroic youth representations beloved of the 19th century. The figure of the archer, weapon slung at his side, evokes both Germanic traditions and the Romantic idea of a privileged link between man, nature, and national history. The painting thus reflects a dual aspiration: to truthfully describe a face and costume, while also offering a universal image of courage and hope.
The fact that the painting once belonged to the artist’s own collection, as attested by the Kornek collection stamp, and that it is listed in Boetticher’s repertory, grants this work both prestigious provenance and a secure place in the history of 19th-century German painting.

An image at the crossroads of tradition and Romanticism;
Through this figure, Kornek engages with a whole 19th-century iconography in which armed youth embodies vitality and the future of the nation. Defregger had exalted the young mountaineers of Tyrol, Menzel the Prussian recruits, Feuerbach the ancient heroes. Kornek chose a more intimate path: by isolating his crossbowman from any precise historical context, he transforms him into a universal symbol—both realistic and idealized.