Aldo Dieblich

Aldo Dieblich (September 30, 1822 – August 1, 1899) was a German-Muan painter best known for his impressionistic paintings of Muan landscapes. During one of the Freiestaaten von Mu lead expeditions into the interior mountain ranges of the southern end of the continent he joined as a laborer but was eventually promoted to one of the official artists. While other artists had travelled into the mountains of Freiestaaten von Mu, Dieblich was one of the first impressionsts to capture these areas in an impressionistic style.

Early life and education
Dieblich was born in Koenigshafen, Ottosstaat, FvM on September 30, 1822 to Harald Heinrich Dieblich, a merchant, and Maria Ingeborg Dieblich nee Hamlin. He was the only child of the couple who doted on him and encouraged his artistic talents from an early age. When Aldo was 13 years old his parents sent him to study painting with a friend of Harald's, Uli Bernedt a famous naturalist and landscape painter who worked with the National Conservatory in Koenigshafen. While working with Bernedt Aldo was made to use chalk, pastels, oils and charcoal as mediums, but Aldo excelled with oils.

Early Career and Injury
After three years of apprenticing with Bernedt, young Aldo left to go on the 1838 First National Expedition, lead by Capt. Fridolf Angewalt, as a laborer and porter. Part way through the expedition, somewhere around modern-day Edwardsberg, Angewalt found Dieblich painting a landscape. He was so taken by the young man's skill that he promoted him to one of the official artists.

Upon his return from the expedition Angewalt began to present young Aldo's work to government and social elites. Soon, Dieblich's art was in high demand, with many of his pieces selling for three or four hundred Freimarks, what would amount to tens of thousands of dollars today. Unfortunately, Dieblich's early art was declared property of the state, so Aldo did not see any profits from his early works, though the notoriety certainly benefitted the young man.

For the Second National Expedition in 1848 Dieblich was sought as the expedition's painter. Due to his fame, the 20 year old painter was able to command a substantial fee for his participation, five thousand Freimarks. On the second Expedition Dieblich was able to paint some of the areas along the eastern slopes of the mountains and some of the desert scenes of the Wustenland area. Sadly, during the expedition's return trek they were ambushed by a local tribe and Dieblich was severely wounded during the fight.

After returning to Koenigshafen Dieblich was hospitalized due to blood poisoning that he had developed as a result of his wounds. During his four month treatment he had two fingers from his right hand amputated and he suffered partial blindness in his left eye following a stroke. Dieblich, devastated by his crippled state, used his earnings from the Second National Expedition to purchase land and build a modest home to the south of the capital in Karlswald. For two years Dieblich refused visitors and there are no extant paintings of his from this period. In his person journal from this period he wrote, "If it wasn't for my goddamned hubris I would still be the best painter on the whole of the continent. Yet, here I am, crippled, blinded, and rendered useless."

Recovery and the Karlswald School
In 1847 Aldo's life took a dramatic turn for the better. Throughout Dieblich's convalescence his long-suffering agent in Koenigshafen, Maximo Entralle had arranged for a number of nurses to care for Aldo to ensure that there would be no further complications from his wounds. Entralle hired a nurse by the name of Anna Beiner, a 32 year old graduate of the Sister's of Mercy Nursing Program, the earliest nursing program on the continent and FvM's oldest extant nursing school. Dieblich's journal from the day he met Anna shows the impact that she had on him. "I had never been one to believe in love. No, that prosaic and antiquated concept had never held any sway over my heart. But today... I am a believer. While my previous nurses have been shrewish or downright harridans, this woman is the picture of grace, beauty and kindness."

For the next year Aldo improved both physically and mentally under Beiner's ministrations. She instituted a daily regimen of progressively more difficult exercises and long walks. Aldo's health improved by leaps and bounds during this period and eventually he had a painting studio constructed and he again began to paint. At first his efforts yielded poor results, at least in Dieblich's opinion. "Anna says that my painting is as good as ever, but I believe that it is her kindness and not her eye for art that compels her to say this. My hand cramps terribly and I cannot produce what my mind dictates." Yet under Beiner's urging Dieblich continued to paint, reinforcing his skills and building back his shattered confidence. It was during this period that Aldo finally confessed his love for Anna and after a fourteen month engagement the two were wed in Karlswald Stave Church on April 5, 1849.

Six months after their marriage Anna wrote to Maximo Entralle and conspired with him to force Dieblich into taking on students. When Aldo discovered the plot he wrote "By what power of Heaven or Hell do these two think to force me to take on students? Me, a crippled has-been, teach anyone to paint? I think not!" But his protests were in vain, for his wife Anna oversaw an expansion of Aldo's painting studio and the creation of a lodging house for the students. Maximo had begun recruiting students, both young men and young women, and within 8 months Dieblich began giving his first lessons in oil painting.

This began a nine year period in which Dieblich educated and trained the founders of the movement that would come to be known as the Karlswald School. Many famous painters of the period began at Dieblich's art school, including Ludwig Osterstein, Lilie Handtmann and Edward Birkensdorf.

It was also during this period that Aldo took trips across the continent, including a six month sabbatical to the secretive nation of Mu, where he painted many landscapes from across that nation.

The Koenigshafen Fall and Rabenholz Asylum
In early 1860 Dieblich accepted a lecturing position at the Koenigshafen University. This was a period of intense stress for the artist, as he was unaccustomed to being out in the public eye after his convalescence and considered himself "hideous beyond belief." It was also during this time that his school in Karlswald was being run by students that had graduated and become faculty at the now expanding school. While Dieblich was away for months at a time he often wrote in his journal about his fears regarding his wife's fidelity. "She chose to marry me, a disfigured cripple, but still my heart aches at the thought of her being with another, despite my horrific visage." No evidence of Anna's infidelity has ever been discovered from her journals, or from any of the journals or accounts of students or faculty at the school. About 18 months into his time at Koenigshafen University Aldo suffered a mental breakdown during a lecture after a student asked him which of his pupils he thoughts came closest to him stylistically. At this point Dieblich began to rant and rave about his wife's beauty and his own disfigurement, making statements that indicated he believed that his wife was unfaithful to him with one or more of his former pupils. Thankfully the perplexed students recognized Aldo's distress and were able to summon help. Aldo was removed bodily from the room by the porter, screaming at the students "How dare you insinuate that my wife is a harlot? I challenge you to a duel! I challenge you all to a duel!"

For the next ten months Dieblich was committed to Rabenholz Mental Asylum in Koenigshafen. He was visited often by his wife, Anna, and by his former students. During his time in Rabenholz the Karlswald School continued to expand and develop into an institution known across the continent. Following his release from Rabenholz Dieblich returned to the Karlswald School and retired from the public eye. He continued to be ministered to by his wife, Anna, for the next 24 years until her death. After Dieblich's time in Rabenholz he never again made any public appearances except to welcome classes at the expanded school, now a university.

Artistic Reception
Most of Dieblich's paintings were never sold or even displayed during his long life. He maintained possession of his art until the day he died in 1899 when it passed into the hands of his school which had become a national university by this point.

Having painted almost 800 known pieces of art during his life, Dieblich is one of the most prolific artists of the period. The majority of his art is owned by the National University at Karlswald, the successor university to his early art school, however a significant number of his paintings are held by institutions like the British Museum, the Smithsonian Art Gallery and the Louvre. The last painting of Dieblich's that went for sale at Sotheby's in 1999 sold for an astounding 4 million US dollars to a German collector.

Selected Works

 * 1838 – Marsh River Dieblich Marsh River Aldo Dieblich.jpg
 * 1839 – The Adlertal Dieblich Adlertal.jpeg
 * 1839 – The Adlertal in Spring Dieblich Adlertal Spring.jpeg
 * 1840 – Kastellberg over the Iron RiverDieblich Castleberg Over the Iron River.jpg
 * 1841 – Blitzfjord, c. 1841, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Dieblich Blitzfjord.jpg
 * 1842 – Dappled Glen, c. 1842, oil on canvas, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan Dieblich Dappled Glen.jpg
 * 1848 – High Mountain Rill, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 	Dieblich High Mountain Rill.jpeg
 * 1848 – The Kopfsee, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York Dieblich Kopfsee.jpg
 * 1848 – Mt Gregor over Blessed Valley, oil on canvas, Timken Museum of Art, San Diego, California Dieblich Mount Gregor Over Blessed Valley.jpg
 * 1848 – Sunrise over Golden Rocks, oil on paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts Dieblich Sunrise Over Golden Rocks.jpeg
 * 1853 - Green Hills of Mu, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama Dieblich Green Hills of Mu.jpg
 * 1853 – Break in the Trees, Oil on canvas on panel-back stretcher, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Dieblich Break in the Trees.jpg
 * 1853 – Dustajarte Pond, 1853, oil on paper, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Dieblich Dustajarte Pond.jpg
 * 1853 – Glade in Vashparaq, oil on canvas, Brooklyn Museum, New York City, New York Dieblich Glade in Vashparaq.jpg
 * 1854 – The Undermarsh, 1868, oil on canvas, Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts Dieblich The Undermarsh.jpg
 * 1855 – Trolleberg, Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Dieblich Trolleberg.jpg
 * 1855 – Waterglen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Dieblich Waterglen.jpg

Legacy and honors

 * In 1881, Dieblich Glacier was christened in his honor by scientists from the Koenigshafen National University.
 * In 1976, Dieblich was declared by President Mathias Jonas Reckling as a National Artist, alongside Benedikt Eberhardt and Niklaus Wenstadt
 * The Karlswald School is an art movement named after the art school that Dieblich and his wife founded.