Anna van Hannover by Johann Valentin Tischbein 1753

Johann Valentin Tischbein (11 December 1715, in

Haina Haina (Kloster) is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northwest Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Haina lies in Waldeck-Frankenberg south of Frankenberg and east of Burgwald at the southwest slope of the Kellerwald range. It lies on th ...

– 24 April 1768, in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...

) was a German painter from the

Tischbein family The Tischbein family was a German family of artists, originating in Hesse and spanning three generations. The family patriarch, Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1682–1764), was a master baker at the State Hospital in Haina. The Tischbeins also produce ...

of artists.

Biography

His father, Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1682–1764) was a baker; five of whose eight children became painters. From 1729 to 1736, he studied art; first in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

with the

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

Johann Christian Fiedler Johann Christian Fiedler (31 October 1697, Pirna - 5 September 1765, Darmstadt) was a German portrait painter. Some sources give his year of death as 1768. Biography His father was a brewmaster and his mother's family had long served in the ...

, then in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

with the portrait painter, Johann Georg von Freese (1701–1775). His whereabouts for the next three years is uncertain, although he appears to have spent some time in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. In 1739 he worked for the

House of Solms A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and was appointed court painter in 1741. From 1744 to c.1747, he served as court painter to the

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous tim ...

s in

Kirchberg an der Jagst Kirchberg an der Jagst is a town in the district of Schwäbisch Hall, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the river Jagst, 11 km northwest of Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Inc ...

, where he was married. His next known location was

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, where he had a commission from , the military Governor, to create a series of nine (mostly posthumous) portraits of his predecessors (currently on display at the in

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

). It was there that his son,

Johann Friedrich August Tischbein Johann Friedrich August Tischbein, known as the ''Leipziger Tischbein'' (9 March 1750, Maastricht - 21 June 1812, Heidelberg) was a German portrait painter from the Tischbein family of artists. Biography He received his first lessons from h ...

was born. Shortly after, he and his family moved to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. He returned to Germany in 1764 and became a theater painter for the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse bet ...

. His first wife died sometime during this period and he remarried in 1765. Later, he worked as court painter for Ernest Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, although he continued to do occasional work for the Landgraviate.

Sources

Biographical notes
@ Hessian Biography
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
*Servé Minis, ''De terugkeer van de gouverneurs. De gouverneursportretten uit het Jachtslot Fasanerie te Fulda'', Bonnefanten, 1998

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tischbein 1715 births 1768 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters Johann Valentin German portrait painters Court painters People from Waldeck-Frankenberg