Gustav Graef
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gustav Graef (14 December 1821 – 6 January 1895) was a German painter, primarily of portraits and historical subjects.


Life and work

Graef was born in
Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
. In 1842, he entered the
University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...
, where he was an enthusiastic member of the Student Corps and produced his first lithographs. His training as a painter began in Düsseldorf with Theodor Hildebrandt and Wilhelm von Schadow at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
. He made several study trips to Antwerp, Paris, Munich and Italy. Upon his return to Königsberg, he married a former acquaintance from his drawing class, the painter and lithographer Franziska Liebreich (1824–1893), who came from a prominent Jewish family. One of their sons, Botho, became a noted art historian. Their daughter
Sabine The Sabines (, , , ;  ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...
married the painter Reinhold Lepsius and became a well-known painter herself. In 1849, he received the contract to paint frescoes in the south dome hall of the Neues Museum; designed by
Wilhelm von Kaulbach Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a Germans, German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Bio ...
, depicting
Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind and Wittikund, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish provinc ...
's reconciliation with
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. This necessitated a move to Berlin and was followed by a commission to paint four scenes from the
Labors of Hercules Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labo ...
for the
Altes Museum The Altes Museum (English: ''Old Museum'') is a List of World Heritage Sites in Germany, listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Built between 1825 and 1830 by order of King Frederick Will ...
. After 1862, he focused on idealized female portraits, which brought him great commercial success. He became a member of the Prussian Academy of the Arts in 1880. At the peak of his fame, in 1885, he was arrested and charged with the abuse of an underage model. This became a major scandal in Berlin society, as the young woman in question was from a notable family that had been very hospitable to Graef. He was eventually acquitted, but not without great damage to all the parties involved. Paul Lindau: ''Der Prozeß Graef. Drei Berliner Sensationsprozesse sowie zwei andere aufsehenerregende Kriminalfälle des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts.'' Berlin (DDR) 1985 He died in Berlin, aged 73.


References


External links


Master Paintings of the WorldNational Portrait Gallery ''Sir Francis Galton'' by Gustav Graef
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graef, Gustav 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters German printmakers 1821 births 1895 deaths Artists from Königsberg Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni 19th-century painters of historical subjects