Hermann Wall was born in Stettin, Germany on September 22, 1875. By 1881 his family had immigrated to the United States and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wall begin his artistic training studying under several Chicago and Milwaukee engravers including F. W. Heine. In 1899 he attended the Chase School of Art in New York and in 1901 he moved to Los Angeles, California to accept the position of artist and cartoonist at the Los Angeles Times.
In 1903 Wall came to Wilmington and studied under Howard Pyle, attending his lectures on composition. There he shared a studio with fellow Pyle students William J. Aylward and Arthur E. Becher at 1607 Broom Street.
In 1906 he married Jeanette Houston who he had met in LA. Wall was a member of the Society of Illustrators. His illustrations most notably appeared in Cosmopolitan, Harper's Monthly, and Saturday Evening Post.
Sources:
Rowland Elzea and Elizabeth H. Hawkes, editors. A Small School of Art: The Students of Howard Pyle. Wilmington, DE: The Delaware Art Museum, 1980.
