Anton Graff | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait (1765) | |
| Born | (1736-11-18)18 November 1736 |
| Died | 22 June 1813(1813-06-22) (aged 76) |
| Education | Johann Ulrich Schellenberg, Johann Jacob Haid, Leonhard Schneider |
| Known for | Portrait Painting |
| Notable work | Portrait ofFrederick the Great (1781). Hismasterpiece |
| Movement | Neoclassicism |
| Awards | 1783:Honorary Member of theAkademie der Künste, Berlin, 1812: Honorary Member of theAcademy of Fine Arts, Vienna and theAcademy of Fine Arts, Munich |
| Patrons | Royal Courts ofPrussia andSaxony |
Anton Graff (18 November 1736 – 22 June 1813) was a Swissportrait artist.
Among his famous subjects wereFriedrich Schiller,Christoph Willibald Gluck,Heinrich von Kleist,Frederick the Great,Friederike Sophie Seyler,Johann Gottfried Herder,Gotthold Ephraim Lessing,Moses Mendelssohn andChristian Felix Weiße. His pupils includedEmma Körner,Philipp Otto Runge andKarl Ludwig Kaaz.
Anton Graff was born as the seventh child of the craftsman Ulrich Graff and Barbara Graff née Koller, at Untertorgasse 8 inWinterthur,Switzerland (the house no longer exists).[1] In 1753, Graff started studying painting at the art school of Johann Ulrich Schellenberg, in Winterthur.[1] After three years he left forAugsburg. There he worked with theetcher Johann Jakob Haid. However, only one year later he was forced to leave Augsburg. He was too successful, and the members of the local painters guild feared his competition.[2] With a letter of recommendation from Johann Jakob Haid, he moved toAnsbach where he found employment with the court painter Leonhard Schneider until 1759.[1] Graff travelled frequently toMunich to study paintings in different collections. In 1759, he went back to Augsburg and later moved toRegensburg. In 1765 he went back to Winterthur and Zurich. It was there he received an invitation fromChristian Ludwig von Hagedorn, the newly appointed Director of the recently establishedDresden Art Academy, to apply for a post. Graff hesitated, he thought he was not good enough to work for theprincely court ofSaxony. To give Hagedorn an impression of his talent he sent a self-portrait. It arrived on 16 January 1766, in Dresden and was so well received, that only one day later Hagedorn worked out Graff's employment contract.[1] On 7 April 1766, Graff arrived in Dresden, where he was appointed court painter and teacher for portrait painting at the academy.[1] He kept the academy post for life, although he got better paid offers at other academies. In early 1788, the Prussian Minister Friedrich Anton von Heynitz made Graff the very financially attractive offer to work for thePrussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. On 7 May 1789, Graff informedCount Camillo Marcolini, general director of the Dresden Art Academy, about this. Marcolini reacted straight away. On 20 June 1789, Graff was appointed Professor for portrait painting at the Dresden Art Academy.[3]
Graff made portraits of nearly 1,000 of his contemporaries and was the leading portrait painter in Germany, in the late 18th and early 19th century. Graff was the main portrait painter of German poets between theEnlightenment and early Romantic periods. Many were also his friends, likeJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, whom he met in Dresden in 1768.[1] Graff was the favourite portrait painter of the German, Russian, Polish andBalticnobility. Among others he portrayedStanislaw Kostka Potocki.[4] His most important clients includedCatherine the Great of Russia andFrederick the Great ofPrussia. His portrait of Frederick is regarded as his masterpiece. The painting is exhibited atSchloss Charlottenburg.[5] Frederick the Great never posed for Graff. However, Graff received authorization to watch Frederick at a military parade in 1781. This gave Graff the chance to study the physiognomy of the King, and was therefore the basis for his portrait.[6]
Graff was popular with thelanded gentry, diplomats, musicians andscholars. He portrayed many of them. While painting a portrait, Graff always focused the light on the person's face. In Graff's portraits it was always the face that got the attention and the light, except when the sitter was a lady. In that case he also focused on the lady'sdécolleté. Graff was a master of light and shadow.[citation needed] His role model in this context wasJán Kupecký whose works he studied in the collections of Ansbach. In comparison with the calmness of the ladies, the gentlemen in his portraits often appear serious and reserved.
He also knew how to paint dresses and draperies of different materials and colours in a natural way. His role model in this field was the French court painterHyacinthe Rigaud.[7] In 1765/66 Graff portrayed Elisabeth Sulzer in a blue silk dress with silver laces andfur collar and borders.[8]
In his early years, Graff hardly ever painted any background details. He usually kept the background monochrome. However, in later years he paid more attention to the background. Usually he painted the sitter in outdoor surroundings, as was the fashion at that time in England. The price for a portrait by Graff was calculated by size and details of the sitter's clothes. That it was not always easy for Graff to portrait the famous shows the remark he made while paintingFriedrich Schiller: "He cannot sit still."[9] Graff was much in demand and he could live a comfortable life with his income.[9]
In 1769 Graff met Philipp Erasmus Reich, a well known bookseller and publisher in Leipzig. Reich became a good friend of Graff. He engaged him to portrait his scholar friends. In September 1771, Graff travelled to Berlin and portrayedGotthold Ephraim Lessing in Johann Georg Sulzer's apartment. Lessing's comment on his portrait was: "Do I really look that terribly nice?"[10] In Berlin Graff also portrayedMoses Mendelssohn andJohann Georg Sulzer, his future father-in-law.
In his later years Graff turned to paintinglandscapes and developed a sparkling manner of painting that anticipatedImpressionism.[citation needed]Philipp Otto Runge andCaspar David Friedrich were influenced by his work.
Graff was a sociable person. He cultivated friendships with many of his sitters, business partners and colleagues such as the PolishengraverDaniel Chodowiecki, the Swiss paintersSalomon Gessner andAdrian Zingg and theSaxon engraverJohann Friedrich Bause. Bause reproduced many of Graff's portraits as engravings. This made Graff's name and his artworks well known with the public. Graff travelled quite often to Berlin. His father-in-law,Johann Georg Sulzer, introduced him to members of the Prussian court. He became very popular with thePrussian nobility and they were good customers for him. In 1778 he closed his short autobiography with: "Berlin habe ich viel zu verdanken" (I owe Berlin much).[11]
On 16 October 1771, Graff married Elisabetha Sophie Augusta Sulzer, called "Guste".[12] They had 5 children. The first daughter, Johanna Catharina Henrietta, died the same year she was born in 1772. Another daughter was born in 1779 and died only a few months later. His second son, Georg, died in 1801. In 1803 Graff underwentcataract surgery.[13] His wife Elisabeth died in 1812. Graff himself died oftyphoid fever on 22 June 1813, at around 8pm inDresden. He was 76 years old. He left his two surviving children, Caroline Susanne (she married the painterKarl Ludwig Kaaz, a pupil of Graff) and Carl Anton (he became alandscapist), a fortune of 40,000Thaler.[13] Graff was buried inDresden. His tomb does not exist anymore.
Graff was a prolific artist. He painted some 2,000 paintings and drawings. His paintings, especially the portraits, are much sought after. Many of them are in museums and private collections inSwitzerland (Museum Oskar Reinhart), Germany (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden), Russia (Hermitage Museum),Estonia (Kadriorg Palace,Tallinn)[14] andPoland (National Museum, Warsaw). The portraits of gentlemen outnumber the portraits of ladies.
In honour of their famous citizen the Berufsbildungsschule Winterthur (BBW) (School for Vocational Training) named their building after Graff. The "Anton-Graff-Haus".[15] InWinterthur andDresden there are streets named after Anton Graff. 2013 Jubilee exhibitions took place in the MuseumOskar Reinhart, Winterthur, and in theOld National Gallery in Berlin.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
