View paintings by Carl von Hassler

Carl von Hassler, Fall Colors, Oil on Paper, 13" x 18"

Biography Carl von Hassler

Carl von Hassler was born in Bremen, Germany in 1887 to a Dutch father and a French mother. He attended the Dusseldorf Art Academy before moving to Greenwich Village and connecting with a group of artists calling themselves the “Greenwich Ash Can Group,” a collection of urban painters whose work in documenting the lifestyle of the city in which they lived would be the starting point for Edward Hopper. Tired of the urban environment, a number of these painters, including Robert Henri and John Sloan, began spending time in New Mexico, be it Taos, Santa Fe or, in the case of von Hassler, Albuquerque.

Carl von Hassler, Navajo Woman, Acid Tempera, Circa 1920, 16" x 14"

New Mexico would have a firmer grasp on Carl von Hassler than his friends, as he moved there permanently and lived there for 47 years. He painted traditional realist landscapes using unconventional methods. Carl von Hassler famously developed what he called an “atomic substance” that would allow him to bake his paintings at temperatures of up to 600 degrees, creating paintings that, according to him, were more durable and whose colors would not fade.

Carl von Hassler, Looking Toward Jemez, Oil on Canvas, 27" x 36"

Carl von Hassler also painted a number of large commissions, including the paintings in the newly-refurbished Kimo Theater in Albuquerque and murals at the old airport building in Albuquerque, the Mineshaft Tavern in Madrid, NM and a humber of homes in the Country Club area of Albuquerque. Carl von Hassler also taught such notables as Sam Smith, Ben Turner, Walter Bambrook, Novella King and Betty Sabo.

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Carl von Hassler, Autumn Splendor, Egg Tempera, Circa 1930, 12" x 16"