August Friedrich Piepenhagen () (2 August 1791,
Soldin - 27 September 1868,
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
) was a landscape painter who spent most of his career in Prague.
Biography
He came from a humble family. As a child, he was apprenticed to a button and braid maker. After becoming a journeyman, he travelled throughout Europe and was particularly impressed by Switzerland, which led him to make some attempts at painting. He stayed briefly in
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
and took some basic lessons from
Johann Heinrich Wüest, but was otherwise entirely self-taught.
The year 1811 found him in Prague, where he was hired by a button maker. After his employer died, he married his widow and took over the button business. Although successful at his trade, he began to paint more frequently and show his work at the shop. Soon, he was making more money from his paintings and had attracted the attention of the well-known landscape painter,
Josef Navrátil. He also earned the admiration of the writer,
Adalbert Stifter
Adalbert Stifter (; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a Bohemian- Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking wo ...
.
He had four daughters. Two of them,
Charlotte
Charlotte most commonly refers to:
*Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles
** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation)
** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation)
*Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city
* Charlotte (cake) ...
and
Louisa, took lessons from him and also became landscape painters.
He died on a farm just outside Prague and was originally buried at the evangelical cemetery in
Karlín
Karlín () is a cadastral area of Prague, part of Prague 8 municipal district, formerly an independent town (which became part of Prague in 1922). It is bordered by the river Vltava and Holešovice to the north, Vítkov hill and Žižkov to t ...
. Later, he was transferred to a plot at the
Olšany Cemetery
Olšany Cemeteries (, ) is the largest graveyard in Prague, Czech Republic, once laid out for as many as two million burials. The graveyard is particularly noted for its many remarkable Art Nouveau monuments.
History
The Olšany Cemeteries w ...
, which he shares with Louisa and Charlotte. The grave is adorned with a statue by the Czech sculptor,
Tomáš Seidan
Tomáš Seidan (6 September 1830, in Prague – 4 December 1890, in Prague) was a Czech sculptor and art teacher.
Biography
He was one of nine children born to Antonín Seidan, an engraver in Prague's Old Town (Prague), Old Town. He began stud ...
.
The Piepenhagen Grave
@ Život po Životě.
Selected paintings
File: August Piepenhagen - Winter Landscape.jpg, Winter Landscape with
Frozen Pond
File: August Bedřich Piepenhagen - Krajina s jezerem.jpg, Landscape with Lake
File: August Friedrich Piepenhagen - Horská krajina s jezerem a kostelem (kolem 1833).jpg, Mountain Landscape with Lake and Church
References
*
*
External links
August, Charlotte and Louisa Piepenhagen
@ the National Gallery of Prague.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piepenhagen, August
1791 births
1868 deaths
Painters from the Austrian Empire
German male painters
People from Myślibórz
Artists from the Province of Brandenburg
Painters from the Kingdom of Prussia
Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia