Figure 1.-- This boy was only identified as 'Hans'. Becker reportedly painted it as a model for a church window he was working on. It was a duuble portrait. There was a girl named Gislea.
Heinrich/Notker Becker is not a major German artist, but does have a fascinating biography. Heinrich was born in Mülheim, Ruhr (1883). We know nothing about his childhood. The Ruhr was the industrial heart of Germany. He grew up in Cologne, where as youth he also completed an apprenticeship in of all places, a locomotive factory. This was not an unusual occupation in the heavily industrialized Ruhr, but is rather unusual for an artist. He had no artistic training as a youth. He entered the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach as a lay brother and was given the religious name Notker (1903). He was both artistically and technically gifted. He began working as assistant to the architect Father Ludger Rincklake and the painter Father Andreas Göser (1863-1925). As part of that association, he was involved in the construction of the monastery churches in Gerleve and Eibingen. His primary involvement was with the huge apse mosaics that Father Andreas Göser created in Maria Laach. With the training he received, Becker began completing is own works, both secular portraits and religious works. He produced both paintings and glass windows. His paintings are said to be influenced by the the Beuron art school. Twonportaits of children are said to be skeches created to model church staine glass windows. He became famous for his church art and was awarded important German and important commissions. We also notice a Bedcker drawing of a boy done in 1927. He is only identified as Henner.
Figure 2.-- This is the Becker's companion piece for his church window, a girl only identified as Gislea.
