Emil Rau was a German painter best known for his paintings of everyday life in rural Germany. His subjects are often depicted in a romanticized manner, rife with traditional garb and rosy-cheeked. Born in 1858 in Dresden, Germany, Rau studied at the Academy in Dresden in his young adulthood, working under Ferdinand Wilhelm Pauwels, before moving to Munich in 1879.

While studying at the Munich Academy, he met fellow painter Wilhelm von Lindenschmit the Younger, whose progressive outlook Rau rejected. He instead continued to focus heavily on capturing the pastoral Germany of lore. Rau died in 1937 in Munich, Germany, and his work can be found in Munich’s Lenbachhaus.