A Life in Brushstrokes Marie Elisabeth Wiegmann began her life in Silberbeg, Silesia. Her hands found their way to the Düsseldorf Academy in 1841, where she sat as a pupil under Hermann Stilke. Later, she studied with Karl Ferdinand Sohn. These years of training shaped how she saw the light on a face or the fold of a garment. She moved through Germany, England, Holland, and Italy, carrying her observations with her. In 1841, she marrie…