Thoma was of humble origin but the Duke of Baden took him under his protection, so he was able to study painting, first at Karlsruhe with Schirmer, and later at Dusseldorf. In 1868 he was able to go to Paris and work under Courbet, who had a great influence him. At first Thoma's work was not particularly well received, but in 1889 an exhibition of his paintings at Munich marked the breakthrough for his art. Many critics wrote of him as one of the outstanding German artists of the period, but his mythological and allegorical paintings rather in the style of Bocklin do not much appeal to present-day taste, and seem to us formal and uninteresting. His most attractive work consists of landscapes; here one sees his deep love and understanding of nature, especially of trees, and a sense of poetry lacking in his other works, show his keen observation of atmosphere and light.

Based on Phaidon encyclopedia of Impressionism, Maurice Serullaz, Phaidon, 1978