Hermann Prell (29 April 1854 – 18 May 1922) was a German history painter and sculptor. He was born at Leipzig and studied under Theodor Grosse in Dresden and Karl Gussow in Berlin, then went to Italy to study fresco painting with Hans von Marées, in which style he produced the bulk of his works, despite Marées skepticism regarding his talent. Arnold Böcklin was also a major influence.

He became a teacher at the Prussian Academy of Art in 1886. That same year, he married Sophie Sthamer, who was also a painter. In 1892, he was appointed a Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and remained there until his retirement in 1914.

He ranks as one of the foremost German historical painters of his time. He is especially known for his successful use of casein colors in fresco. In later life, he executed sculptures and collaborated on several projects with Otto Lessing, Christian Behrens and Alfred Messel. He maintained a studio in a villa on the banks of Elbe from 1897 until his death in Loschwitz in 1922.

Many of his works, especially his easel paintings, were destroyed during the fire-bombing of Dresden in 1945.

His brother was the landscape painter, Walter Prell [de] and his son, Heinrich [de] was a zoologist.

Works:

Eleven murals symbolizing the "Principal Epochs in the History of Architecture" (1881–82, Banquet Hall, Architects' Union, Berlin)
"Justice" and "Valor" and "Henry IV Granting Privileges to Worms in 1074" (City Hall, Worms)
Cycles of historic episodes and allegorical scenes, respectively, in the city halls at Hildesheim (1888–91) and Danzig (1896) and over the staircase of the Breslau Museum (1894)
Mythological scenes and sculptures in the Albertinum (1901–05) and the City Hall, Dresden (1908–12), and a frieze with subjects from Norse mythology in the throne room of the German Embassy in Rome.

Source:
Wikipedia, 2020

The sculptor, history and monumental painter Hermann Prell was already studying at the Dresden Art Academy at the age of 16, and from 1876 at the Berlin Academy. In 1892 he was appointed professor of history painting at the Dresden Art Academy.

He ran the master studio there until his retirement in 1917. Many of his monumental paintings in Dresden (stairwell of the Albertinum and ballroom of the new town hall) and Berlin (Federal Foreign Office) were destroyed in the air raids in 1945.

In addition to Max Klinger, Arnold Böcklin was his artistic role model.