Just Moved

Henry Mosler was born in Troplowitz, Silesia (current day Poland, near the border of the Czech Republic) and immigrated to New York when he was 8 years old—one of 200,000 German-Jewish immigrants who came to United States between 1830 and 1880. His family settled in Cincinnati, where Mosler received his early training before studying in Paris and Düsseldorf. "Just Moved" was painted in New York after Mosler completed his studies in Europe. It demonstrates the rich glowing palette and the unifying interaction of light and shadow that characterize Düsseldorf genre painting. Typically, as here, Mosler grasps the dramatic element of an otherwise everyday situation. A family, their belongings still packed, has just moved to an urban apartment, perhaps drawn by the promise of a more prosperous future in the burgeoning city. The painting contains autobiographical elements—Mosler married in 1869 and his first child was born in 1870—and may refer to the artist’s immigrant experience.