HOCKERT, JOHAN FREDRIK Swedish painter, was born at Jonkoping on Aug. 26, 1826. He studied in Munich and in Paris, where he came under the influence of Delacroix's Romanticism, and afterwards went from place to place, working in Spain, Tunis and Naples. The experience thus gained gave him an unusually broad outlook, and on his return he upset all the traditions of the Swedish-Dusseldorf school by painting for the sake of art and not for the anecdote or historical incident which provided the subject. His great merit lies in the fact that he was first among his countrymen to adopt this atti tude. Both his "Divine Service in Lapland" and "Interior of a Lapland Hut" were exhibited in Paris and afterwards found their way to the museums at Lille and Stockholm respectively. His last important work, "The Burning of the Castle of Stockholm" (1866) is an example of his vivid colouring (Museum of Stockholm). All three pictures are admirably composed.
See T. Chasrel, "Etudes sur la Musee de Lille," in L'Art, vol. iv. p. 261 (1877) ; R. Muther, The History of Modern Painting (author ized Eng. ed., 2 vols. 1907; rev. ed., enlarged, 4 vols., 1907).