Caroline Mezger (8 June 1787 – 25 September 1843) was a Swiss painter, printmaker, and teacher. She was known for watercolor painting and lithography, and she made artwork focused on the

genre art Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

–style, family portraits, self-portraits, and

caricatures A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

. Mezger is also known as Caroline Metzger.

Life and career

Caroline Mezger was born on 8 June 1787, in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

, Switzerland. She was the daughter of Anna Margaretha Ziegler, and Johann Jakob Mezger, a history professor and

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

at the Steigkirche. Mezger studied painting under

Marie Ellenrieder Marie Ellenrieder (20 March 1791 – 5 June 1863) was a German painter, known for her portraits and religious paintings. Life and career Ellenrieder was born in Konstanz, Germany in 1791, the daughter of Konrad and Anna Maria Herrmann, an ...

in her early life; and Johann Jakob Lips (1791–1833) in her later life. It is unclear whether her works were purchased during her lifetime. She earned her living, at least in part, as an art teacher. Mezger never had exhibitions of her artwork during her lifetime, but she did had art exhibitions in 1926 and 2000 in the

Museum zu Allerheiligen A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

, Schaffhausen. She moved to

Feuerthalen Feuerthalen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Andelfingen (district), Andelfingen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Langwiesen also belongs to the same municipality. ...

, Switzerland in her forties and spent the last years of her life there. She never married. Mezger died on 25 September 1843, in either Feuerthalen, or Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mezger, Caroline 1787 births 1843 deaths 19th-century Swiss painters 19th-century women artists People from Feuerthalen People from Schaffhausen 19th-century Swiss lithographers Swiss portrait painters Swiss watercolourists Swiss women painters Swiss caricaturists Women caricaturists