Conrad Westermayr (30 January 1765 – 5 October 1834) was a German painter and engraver.

Life and work

His father, Daniel Jacob Westermayr (1734–1788), was a

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

. He learned the craft from him, while attending the . At first, he focused on creating portraits, as the best source of income. In 1788, he enrolled at the

Kunsthochschule Kassel Kunsthochschule Kassel (German; "Kassel College of Art") is a college of fine arts in Kassel, Germany. Founded in 1777, it is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Kassel. History Kassel Art Academy After the Seven Years' War (17 ...

, to continue his studies with one of the numerous members of 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 produced ...

; most likely

Johann Heinrich Tischbein Johann Heinrich Tischbein (3 October 1722 – 22 August 1789) was a German painter. He was one of the most respected European painters in the 18th century and an important member of the Tischbein family of German painters, which spanned three ge ...

. His first oil paintings were copies of the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

. After 1791, Westermayr studied in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, with the copper engraver, Johann Heinrich Lips. Later, he made engraved copies of larger works by other artists, and worked for the publishing house, "Industrie-Kontor", owned by

Friedrich Justin Bertuch Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch (30 September 1747 – 3 April 1822) was a German publisher and patron of the arts. He co-founded the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School with the painter Georg Melchior Kraus in 1776. He was the father of the writ ...

. He went to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

in 1795, to further his skills in landscape painting. In 1800, he returned to Weimar and married , an artist who had also worked for Bertuch. Westermayr was named a professor at the Hanau Academy in 1806. The old city gates were demolished that year, and his drawings provide the only visual record of them. In 1808, he became a member of the , a scientific society, for which he drew minerals and other natural objects. Not long after, he became the academy's Director, a position he held for the rest of his life. In 1813, he made several paintings and engravings of the

Battle of Hanau The Battle of Hanau was fought from 30 to 31 October 1813 between Karl Philipp von Wrede's Austro-Bavarian corps and Napoleon's retreating French during the War of the Sixth Coalition. Following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig ...

. Despite these activities, his focus was on promoting his students, one of which was

Moritz Daniel Oppenheim Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (7 January 1800 in Hanau, Germany – 26 February 1882 in Frankfurt am Main) was a German painter who is often regarded as the first Jewish painter of the modern era. His work was influenced by his cultural and religio ...

, considered to be one of the first modern Jewish painters. Westermayr died in 1834, at the age of sixty-nine. He and Henriette had no children. Over 500 of his plates have been preserved at the .

Sources

* * Norbert Nail: "''Semper lustig. Nunquam traurig'': Marburger Studenten im Stammbuch des Conrad Westermayr", In: ''Alma Mater Philippina.'' Sommersemester 1994, pp. 22–25 *

Georg Kaspar Nagler Georg Kaspar Nagler (January 6, 1801 in Obersüßbach – January 20, 1866 in Munich) was a German art historian and art writer. Life and work Georg Kaspar Nagler, who came from a poor background studied from 1815 at the Wilhelmsgymnasium (Mun ...

, "Westermayr, Conrad", In: ''Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon'', Vol.24, Schwarzenberg & Schumann, 1835, pp. 186–188
Online
* Ina Schneider: "Conrad und Henriette Westermayr – Leben und Arbeiten in Weimar und Hanau", In: ''Neues Magazin für Hanauische Geschichte'', 1996, pp. 2–34

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westermayr, Conrad 1765 births 1834 deaths German painters German illustrators People from Hanau 18th-century German engravers 18th-century German male artists