Gottlob Heinrich Leutemann was born on the 8th of October 1824 in Grosszschocher, a district near Leipzig.

Leutemann loved to draw from an early age. The map below was drawn when he was only 14 years old.

(Old map of France)

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig from 1838 to 1846 where he was most influenced by Karl Josef Bernhard Neher (1806-1886), a painter and stain-glass designer who was in 1852 awarded the Knight's Cross by the King of Wurttemberg. During his studies, Leutemann worked on frescoes (Weimar castle) and stained-glass windows (a church in Stuttgart) under Neher's supervision.

(A relief by Heinrich Leutemann)


After his studies, he found a job in Leipzig as an illustrator for Gartenlaube, Illustrierte Zeitung, Über Land und Meer, and as an author for Munchener Bilderbogen. 

(Drawing of manatees)

His ability to draw realistic animals with amazing details and present them in a natural background brought him numerous commissions for educational posters, foldable booklets, and wall charts. Drawing all kinds of maps remained a supplemental source of his income.

(Old map of Germany)

He particularly enjoyed painting classic subjects and drawing animals. 

(Scenes from war paths in ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia, and Rome)

Leutemann's area of work naturally led him to illustrate textbooks and picture books as well. His main creation is very likely Reynard the Fox by Julius Eduard Hartmann, a collection of fables, borrowed from old texts and adapted for contemporary audiences. Leutemann created 37 illustrations for the book which was soon translated to English.

(Illustration from Reynad the Fox)

He was also often invited to contribute illustrations to larger collections, like Nice Fairy Tales, where he created images for three fairy tales with animals in main roles (all three are presented on this website) in addition to fairy tales illustrated by Carl Offterdinger (1829-1889).

(Illustration from The Hare and the Hedgehog by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm)

Heinrich Leutemann was a personal friend of Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Heinrich Hagenbeck (1844-1913) who traded with animals, organized safaris to catch exotic animals, established the first ZOO with cages (today it's called Hagenbeck ZOO, and toured Europe with people of different nativities to educate people about other ethnicities and races. Leutemann advised Hagenbeck to start with ethnographic shows where indigenous people were presented in 'authentic' backgrounds (shows ran till the 1930s with hundreds of millions(!) of visitors). Leutemann illustrated numerous scenes with animals in more or less dramatic situations.

(preparing for the Hagenbeck's show)

He lost sight in 1895 and died on the 14th of December 1905 in Wittgensdorf near Chemnitz. Today, the majority of Leutemann's works are in Berlin's and Leipzig's galleries and museums. Originals held in private collections may even surpass the amount of Heinrich Leutemann's drawings and paintings accessible to the public. Today, some of his originals can achieve prices of several thousand dollars.

This website is part of Vintage Artist's Project. Feel free to visit other similar websites as well.