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Gustav Graef (14 December 1821 – 6 January 1895) was a German painter, primarily of portraits and historical subjects.
Master Paintings of the WorldNational Portrait Gallery ''Sir Francis Galton'' by Gustav Graef
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graef, Gustav 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German printmakers 1821 births 1895 deaths Artists from Königsberg Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni 19th-century painters of historical subjects
Gustav Graef (14 December 1821 – 6 January 1895) was a German painter, primarily of portraits and historical subjects.
Life and work
Graef was born inKönigsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...
. In 1842, he entered the University of Königsberg
The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Pruss ...
, where he was an enthusiastic member of the Student Corps and produced his first lithographs. His training as a painter began in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
with Theodor Hildebrandt and Wilhelm von Schadow
Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (7 September 1789 – 19 March 1862) was a German Romantic painter.
Biography
He was born in Berlin, the second son of the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, who gave him his first lessons in drawing. He then turne ...
at the Royal Academy. He made several study trips to Antwerp, Paris, Munich and Italy.
Upon his return to Königsberg, he married a former acquaintance from his drawing class, the painter and lithographer Franziska Liebreich (1824–1893), who came from a prominent Jewish family. One of their sons, Botho, became a noted art historian. Their daughter Sabine
The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome.
The Sabines di ...
married the painter Reinhold Lepsius
Reinhold Lepsius (14 June 1857 – 16 March 1922) was a German painter, especially of portraits, and graphic artist.
Biography
He was born in Berlin, the son of Karl Richard Lepsius (1810–1884), professor at the Frederick William University ...
and became a well-known painter herself.
In 1849, he received the contract to paint frescoes in the south dome hall of the Neues Museum
The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, ...
; designed by Wilhelm von Kaulbach
Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Biography
E ...
, depicting Widukind
Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred th ...
's reconciliation with Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
. This necessitated a move to Berlin and was followed by a commission to paint four scenes from the Labors of Hercules for the Altes Museum
The Altes Museum (English: ''Old Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1825 to 1830 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, it i ...
. After 1862, he focused on idealized female portraits, which brought him great commercial success. He became a member of the Prussian Academy of the Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
in 1880.
At the peak of his fame, in 1885, he was arrested and charged with the abuse of an underage model. This became a major scandal in Berlin society, as the young woman in question was from a notable family that had been very hospitable to Graef. He was eventually acquitted, but not without great damage to all the parties involved. Paul Lindau: ''Der Prozeß Graef. Drei Berliner Sensationsprozesse sowie zwei andere aufsehenerregende Kriminalfälle des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts.'' Berlin (DDR) 1985 He died in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, aged 73.
References
External links
Master Paintings of the World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graef, Gustav 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German printmakers 1821 births 1895 deaths Artists from Königsberg Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni 19th-century painters of historical subjects