author
Alfred Köppen
1869–1940
A German art historian and author, he wrote lively, accessible studies on how art depicts big ideas like evil, hell, furniture design, and modern painting. His books reflect a wide-ranging curiosity about both medieval imagery and the changing look of modern German art.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1869 and died in 1940, Alfred Köppen was a German writer on art and visual culture. Library and authority records identify him as the author of works including Der Teufel und die Hölle in der darstellenden Kunst von den Anfängen bis zum Zeitalter Dante's und Giotto's, first published in 1895, and Die moderne Malerei in Deutschland, published in 1902.
His books show an unusually broad range. In one, he explored how the Devil and Hell were represented in art from early Christian times to Dante and Giotto; in another, he turned to modern German painting. He also wrote on the history of furniture, suggesting a strong interest in how style, symbolism, and design develop across different periods.
Köppen seems to have written for readers who wanted serious art history without unnecessary fuss. Even from the surviving catalog records and digitized editions, he comes across as a guide to the visual imagination of his time—equally interested in dramatic religious images and in the forms of everyday and modern art.