Christian Richter (1678–1732) was a Swedish miniature-painter and copyist, active mainly in England.

Life

Family

Christian Richter was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1678 (although some sources suggest a birth date of ), the son of the silversmith Hans Davidson Richter (died 1695), assessor of the Stockholm Goldsmiths' corporation, and Brita Bengtsdotter Selling. He came from a family of artists and craftsmen, and his brothers included the landscape painter Johann Richter and the medallist

Bengt Richter Bengt Richter (also Benedikt) (1670–18 April 1735) was a Swedish medallist. Life Born at Stockholm, he was a pupil and son-in-law of the medal engraver Arvid Karlsteen. Leonard Forrer, ''Biographical Dictionary of Medallists'' Vol. 5 (1904),p ...

.Coombs 2004, n.p. The latter visited England for a short time, when he executed a set of medals of the members of the Swedish Club; some specimens of these are in the British Museum.Cust 1896, p. 260.

Training

Christian Richter's father had intended to enter him on the goldsmiths' lists but died in 1695 before this could be arranged. His mother entered his name that same year, however, and he appears to have worked for his relation Frantz Boll. He was discharged as a journeyman in 1698, after less than three years, and with his brother Bengt went to study medal engraving under

Arvid Karlsteen Arvid Karlsteen (16 March 1647 – 3 May 1718) was a Swedish medal engraver and portrait miniaturist. Born on March 16, 1647, on a farm near Karlskoga. Karlsteen was the son of Jonas Kjellander, a cartographer, and his wife Brita Larsdotter ...

. Around this time he took up portrait-painting, especially in miniature and enamel, and may have learnt to paint from Karlsteen (who occasionally painted miniatures) or perhaps with Elias Brenner, the leading Swedish miniaturist of his time. Wilhelm Nisser noted that Richter's 1701 miniature of the Stockholm merchant Samuel Worster 'betrays a very great capacity'. Richter afterwards visited Berlin and then went on to Dresden, where he had good introductions from Karlsteen. There he modelled a wax portrait of

Augustus II Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

, although his hope of an appointment at the court of Saxony was disappointed, and he left for London.

London

Richter arrived in London some time between 1702 and 1704. There he met his compatriots the painters Hans Huysing and

Michael Dahl Michael Dahl (1659–1743) was a Swedish portrait painter who lived and worked in England most of his career and died there. He was one of the most internationally known Swedish painters of his time. He painted portraits of many aristocrats and s ...

, and the enamellist Charles Boit. Richter was patronised by Dahl, whose manner he imitated. His skill in producing small limned copies of Dahl's and Huysing's oil paintings would undoubtedly have further promoted their reputations. According to

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

, the engraver and antiquary, Richter became an excellent copyist of Dahl's works, and also those of

Vandyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

, Lely, and

Kneller Kneller is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Andreas Kneller (1649–1724), German composer *Arthur Kneller (1894–1969), English cricketer *Clive Kneller, actor in ''Enlightenment'' *Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), German-bo ...

. He had some skill as an original miniature-painter, but was hampered in his art by ill-health. Vertue described Richter's style: 'his Manner of Painting very tender and Curious, his tincts had a great variety his pencil regular and neat, his lines of drawing very just & toucht with freedom'.

Death

He died in November 1732, aged 50, and was buried in the churchyard of

St. James's, Westminster Westminster St James (or St James Piccadilly) was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England. The creation of the parish followed the building of the Church of St James, Piccadilly, in 1684. After several failed attempts, th ...

Works

* View of AbergavennyOxfordshire (

Wroxton Abbey Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean house in Oxfordshire, with a 1727 garden partly converted to the serpentine style between 1731 and 1751. It is west of Banbury, off the A422 road in Wroxton. It is now the English campus of Fairleigh Dickinson Un ...

): ''Viscountess Tyrconnel'' (1709, miniature) * Amsterdam: miniature copied after Vandyck * London (National Portrait Gallery): ''Stephen Duck'' (c. 1740, watercolour and gouache/vellum, miniature, attributed) * London (Victoria and Albert Museum): ''Lady Margaret Bagot'' * London (Wallace Collection): ''Portrait of Cromwell'' (miniature, after Samuel Cooper) * Stockholm (Nationalmus.): ''Portrait of Samuel Worster''; ''Duchess of Marlborough''.Oliver, ed. 2011.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Coombs, Catherine (2004)
"Richter, Christian (1678–1732), miniature painter"
In ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press. * * Foskett, Daphne (1987). ''Miniatures: Dictionary and Guide''. Suffolk: Antique Collectors' Club. * Nisser, Wilhelm (1927). ''Michael Dahl and the Contemporary Swedish School of Painting in England''. Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksells. * Oliver, Valerie Cassel, ed. (2011)
"Richter, Christian"
In ''

Benezit Dictionary of Artists The ''Benezit Dictionary of Artists'' (in French, ''Bénézit: Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs'') is an extensive publication of bibliographical information on painters, sculptors, designers and engravers creat ...

''. Oxford University Press.

External links

"Elizabeth Crewe, Countess of Arran (1680-1756) c.1700-10"
''

Royal Collection Trust The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

''. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
"John Richmond Webb (1666?-1724) c.1700-20"
''

''. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
"Margaret, Lady Thorold (d.1733)? Signed and dated 1721"
''

''. Retrieved 9 April 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Christian 1678 births 1732 deaths 18th-century Swedish artists 18th-century Swedish male artists English people of Swedish descent