Geertz was born in
Hamburg where he began his artistic studies under the brothers
Günther Gensler and , then worked for some time as a private student of the former, after which he became a pupil of
Adolf des Coudres in
Karlsruhe. He moved to Düsseldorf in 1860 and entered the studio of
Rudolf Jordan. In 1864 he travelled to
Paris, where he studied the work of the old masters, and afterwards to Brittany and the Netherlands. He then settled in Düsseldorf, where he painted genre scenes, partly serious, partly humorous, taken from ordinary life and the doings of young people; among these
Der Verbrecher nach der Verurteilung ("The Criminal after the Judgement") established his reputation. He is counted as one of the so-called
Düsseldorf School. His works are distinguished by serious effort to capture the truth to life of individual character, excellent drawing and telling use of colour, as well as a frequent use of subtle humour. He was a member of the Düsseldorf painters' society
Malkasten ("paintbox"). Geertz died in
Braunschweig. His son
Henry Ludwig Geertz (born 1872 in Düsseldorf; date and place of death unknown) studied from 1889 at the
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with
Peter Janssen, and from 1893 in the painting classes of
Julius Roeting and
Eduard von Gebhardt. He was a member of the
Hamburger Künstlerverein ("Hamburg Artists' Society"). Among his major works is the group portrait of the founding members of the
Hamburgische Wissenschaftliche Stiftung ("Hamburg Scientific Society"). == Selected works ==