THIELE, Johann Alexander
(b. 1685, Erfurt, d. 1752, Dresden)

Biography

German Baroque painter and etcher. From 1729 he was court painter in Arnstadt, then from 1738 court painter in Dresden. He specialized in landscape painting. The invention of pastel has frequently been accredited to him, but the claim cannot be substantiated, as drawing in coloured chalks had been practiced long before. Thiele was perhaps the first to carry the art to perfection in Germany.