Friedrich Paul Thumann (German 1834-1908) (Attributed to) 

The Three Fates, circa 1870 alternately titled "The Thread of Life." Allegory of the Three Fates

Oil on canvas

In ornate frame with plaster/gesso floral motif

5 1/2 by 4 inches (canvas)

9 by 7 1/2 inches (framed)

From AskArt, Friedrich Paul Thumann, who was born at Tschaksdorf, in the Lausitz, in 1834, was originally intended for a scientific career, and studied with that purpose at the engineering school at Glogau. At the age of nineteen, however, he entered the Berlin Academy as an art student. In 1856 he settled in Dresden, where, until 1860, he remained as a pupil of Julius Hubner. He had now become known as a painter, both of portraits and religious compositions, which found favor. In 1860 he removed to Leipzig, the great German publishing centre, where as a draughtsman and illustrator for books and periodicals he acquired both a wide reputation and a great deal of money. This enabled him in 1863 to resume his study of painting, which he did under Professor Pauwels at Weimar. After travelling in Italy, France and England, he in 1866 became a professor at the Weimar Academy, which he exchanged six years later for the Academy at Dresden, and in 1875 for a similar post in Berlin, where he still remains. "The Sirens" is an extremely characteristic work from his brush, and gives a new view of a subject which has already been treated in "Modern Figure Painting" by different artists.