Mathias Alten

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Mathias Joseph Alten (1871–1938) was a German-American impressionist painter who spent most of his career in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Born in Gusenburg, Germany, Alten studied art in Paris at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi, where he won a gold medal for figure drawing. He painted landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still lifes, and animals, often using bright, sunlit light.

Alten traveled widely to learn and work. He studied in Paris in 1899 with the help of wealthy patrons, spent 1910–11 in the Netherlands, and made several trips to Spain beginning in 1912, influenced by Joaquín Sorolla. His sun-drenched canvases from the 1920s were shown at Holt Galleries in New York, and one of his Spanish marine scenes was featured on the front cover of the Literary Digest in 1929, marking a high point in his national recognition.

He exhibited at major American museums, including the National Academy in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Alten traveled to many art colonies—Étaples, Old Lyme, Taos, Laguna Beach, Tarpon Springs—and continued painting across the United States. He never joined a single artists’ colony or school, but he mentored younger painters such as Kreigh Collins.

In Michigan, Alten was highly respected and received honorary memberships from several regional arts groups. He joined the Society of Western Artists in 1904, the National Arts Club in 1916, and was associated with Detroit’s Scarab Club, where he won a gold medal in 1920. He has been called the “dean of Michigan painters,” and his home at 1593 East Fulton Street in Grand Rapids is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Alten was diagnosed with mitral stenosis in 1937. He painted his last known self-portrait, Self Portrait, Myself at 66, and died on March 8, 1938, in Grand Rapids at the age of 67 from a heart attack caused by a blood clot. His diverse body of work remains a testament to his prolific travel, varied subjects, and enduring influence as a leading figure in Michigan art.