Updated November 2026 · ranked by our popularity score (searches, visits and orders for each work) · 13 works by Gustavus Behne in our catalogue
In short
To the gallery's eye, Gustavus Behne's most famous painting is Portrait of General George M. Keim (1861), whose original hangs in the Reading Public Museum, Reading. Moro Castle, Havana (1865) and Alpine Glow (1870) complete the trio every eye recognises. Of the 13 works by Gustavus Behne in our catalog, the gallery presents the 13 most famous below, each original with its year, its museum and what makes it unique.
In this 1861 oil portrait, we encounter General George M. Keim not as a distant figure of history, but as a man of palpable weight and quiet gravity. Presented in an oval format, the composition focuses on a bust-length view of the subject, whose gaze is directed forward, meeting the viewer with a steady, contemplative expression. There is a certain stillness here, a sense of a life lived through the…
The museum that holds the most of the paintings on this page.
| Museum | City | Works by Gustavus Behne | Paintings from this list |
|---|---|---|---|
 Reading Public Museum |
Reading | 13 | Portrait of General George M. Keim, Moro Castle, Havana, Alpine Glow |
19 years of Gustavus Behne's art, 1861 to 1879: the gallery follows them year by year, through the most famous originals of each.
Pick a year to see its originals.
In this 1861 oil portrait, we encounter General George M. Keim not as a distant figure of history, but as a man of palpable weight and quiet gravity. Presented in an oval format, the composition focuses on a bust-length view of the subject, whose gaze is directed forward, meeting the viewer with a steady, contemplative expression. There is a certain stillness here, a sense of a life lived through the…
Portrait of General George M. Keim (1861), Reading Public Museum, Reading. Moro Castle, Havana (1865) and Alpine Glow (1870) come next.
33 years old: Portrait of General George M. Keim dates from 1861, and Gustavus Behne was born in 1828.
Portrait of General George M. Keim, Moro Castle, Havana, Alpine Glow, Der Wild Kaiser, Bavaria, Ammer Lake, Bavaria, George DeBenneville Keim, Portrait of Kaiser Frederick Wilhelm, Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, Sicilian Street Shrine and Brucke. The ranking above gives each one's year and museum.
Our catalog holds 13 works by Gustavus Behne, dated from 1861 to 1879.
Mostly in Reading Public Museum (Reading). The museum table above lists them all.
On this page, the earliest is Portrait of General George M. Keim (1861) and the latest Ammer Lake, Bavaria (1879).
Portrait of General George M. Keim, Moro Castle, Havana and Alpine Glow: the Reading Public Museum, Reading holds 13 of the works on this page.
Born in the Prussian lands of Nordhause, Gustavus Behne carried with him the disciplined spirit of the German academies. His early years were shaped by the rigorous training found at the Dusseldorf Academy, a place where the foundations of form and light were etched into his understanding of the brush. This education provided him with the technical vocabulary to later navigate much different landscapes, both physical and artistic.
The path of this painter was one of movement and migration. He eventually crossed the Atlantic, seeking new horizons in the United States. His early American years saw him settling in Reading, Pennsylvania, a period that allowed his German training to meet the varied subjects of the New World. It is said that during his time in Philadelphia, he may have walked the same paths as other great masters, absorbing the quiet lessons of the local art scene.
Behne possessed a versatile hand, capable of shifting from the intimate stillness of a small object to the grand scale of historical drama. He found equal footing in the realms of portraiture, landscape, and still life. His portraits were not merely likenesses but studies of character, including notable works such as his depiction of General Sam Houston of Texas. In these faces, one finds the careful observation of a man trained in the Dusseldorf tradition.
His work often reflected the dual influences of the Dusseldorf and Munich schools. This duality allowed him to capture the quietude of religious themes alongside the sweeping vistas of nature. Whether he was painting a Sicilian street shrine or the serene waters of Lake Chieming in Bavaria, his focus remained on the truth of the scene. His still lifes offered a different kind of meditation, focusing on the silent presence of objects held in perfect, frozen light.
As his life moved toward its conclusion near Munich, Behne had already left behind a body of work that bridged the gap between German academic precision and American subject matter. His ability to adapt to different environments—from the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the bustling streets of Pennsylvania—defined his artistic identity. He remained a painter of the moment, capturing history, nature, and the human countenance with a steady, practiced hand.
The significance of his work lies in this very adaptability. Through his eyes, we see:
