Eduard Hau (Russian: Эдуард Петрович Гау; 28 July 1807 in

Reval Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju ''maakond'' (co ...

– 3 January 1888 in

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) was a

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

painter and draughtsman, best known for his interior portraits of the

Russian imperial The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

residences.

Life and work

He was the son of painter Johannes Hau, who had emigrated from Northern Germany in 1795, and he grew up in the German community of Tallinn ("Reval" in German). His half-brother was the painter

Woldemar Hau Woldemar Hau (; – ) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German painter, best known for his watercolor portraits of Russian Imperial family and nobility, typical of the Biedermeier style. Life and work He was the son of painter Johannes Hau, wh ...

. From 1830 to 1832, he studied at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...

. From 1836 to 1839, he lived in Tartu ("Dorpat"), where he also spent the last years of his life. In between, he apparently lived in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he produced numerous interior portraits of rooms in the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

, the

Peterhof Palace The Peterhof Palace ( rus, Петерго́ф, Petergóf, p=pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof; an emulation of German "Peterhof", meaning "Peter's Court") is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commissioned by Peter th ...

and other Royal residences. He was on the membership list at the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

in 1854,University of Tartu Library: Short Biography
/ref> and probably remained in Russia until c.1880. The

Gatchina Palace The Great Gatchina Palace () is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi (architect), Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in ...

was burned by German troops during World War II. When it was rebuilt, the interior was restored using Hau's paintings as a guide. Outside of Russia, he is primarily known for his portraits of the Professors at the

University of Dorpat The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. They appeared from 1837 to 1839 and were distributed in a series of lithographs, in six issues, by the firm of Georg Friedrich Schlater. The portrait subjects included

Friedrich Karl Hermann Kruse Friedrich Karl Hermann Kruse (21 July 1790 – 3 August 1866) was a German historian born in Oldenburg. In 1813 he obtained his doctorate from the University of Leipzig. Beginning in 1816 he taught classes at Maria Magdalena Gymnasium in Br ...

Nikolay Pirogov Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (Russian: Николай Иванович Пирогов; – ) was a Russian scientist, medical doctor, pedagogue, public figure, and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1847), one of the most wi ...

and

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve (, trans. ''Vasily Yakovlevich Struve''; 15 April 1793 – ) was a Baltic German astronomer and geodesist. He is best known for studying double stars and initiating a triangulation survey later named Struve G ...

.''Eesti elulood.'' Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus, Tallinn 2000, , S. 82 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) He also produced well-known portraits of

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) (31 December 1798 in Ao Manor, Kreis Jerwen – 22 April 1850 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist active in Livonia, Russian Empire. He was a co-founder of the Learned Estonia ...

(1837, lithograph) and

Johann Carl Simon Morgenstern Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern ( – ) was a German philologist in Livonia, the first director of the library of the Imperial University of Dorpat. He coined the term ''Bildungsroman''. Biography Morgenstern was born in Magdeburg. He studied at t ...

(1838, oil painting).

Selected lithographs of the professors

File:Moritz Hermann von Jacobi, 1837.jpg, File:Wilhelm Struve. 1837.jpg, File:Friedrich Kruse.jpg, File:Friedrich Georg von Bunge, 1837.jpg,

Interiors of the Winter Palace

File:Гау.Малиновый кабинет Марии Александровны.jpg, The Study of Empress Maria Alexandrovna File:Гау.Будуар Марии Александровны..jpg, The Boudoir of Empress Maria Alexandrovna File:Hau. Interiors of the Winter Palace. The Billiard Room of Emperor Alexander II. Midle of 19th century.jpg, The Billiard Room of Emperor Alexander II File:Hau Edward Petrovich - Cathedral in the Winter Palace.jpg, Cathedral

References

External links

"A walk through The Hermitage". Watercolors by Eduard Hau.

Paintings by Eduard Hau
in the digital collection of the Estonian Art Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Hau, Eduard 1807 births 1888 deaths Artists from Tallinn People from the Governorate of Estonia Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century lithographers from the Russian Empire Printmakers