Johann Heinrich Lips (29 April 1758, in

Kloten Kloten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bülach District, district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (). History Kloten is first mentioned in 1155 as ''Chlotun''. Geogra ...

– 5 May 1817, 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 ...

) was a Swiss copper engraver; mostly of portraits.

Biography

His father was the village surgeon and barber. His Latin teacher, the local pastor, introduced him to

Johann Caspar Lavater Johann Kaspar (or Caspar) Lavater (; 15 November 1741 – 2 January 1801) was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, physiognomist and theologian. Early life Lavater was born in Zürich, and was educated at the '' Gymnasium'' there, where J. J. Bo ...

who was impressed by Lips' talent for drawing, persuaded his parents to let him study art, and arranged an apprenticeship for him with the painter,

Johann Caspar Füssli Johann Caspar Füssli (3 January 1706 – 6 May 1782) was a Swiss portrait painter and art historian. Biography Füssli was born in Zürich to Hans Rudolf Füssli, who was also a painter, and Elisabeth Schärer. He studied painting in Vienna bet ...

. Later, he was also able to obtain a position with the

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, Johann Rudolf Schellenberg, in

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

. From 1774 to 1776, he worked with Schellenberg to produce the illustrations for Lavater's famous work ''Physiognomische Fragmente zur Beförderung der Menschenkenntniß und Menschenliebe'', a major

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

physiognomy Physiognomy () or face reading is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain without referenc ...

. Following that, he briefly worked with Johann Caspar's son, Johann Heinrich Füssli, better known as

Henry Fuseli Henry Fuseli ( ; ; 7 February 1741 – 17 April 1825) was a Swiss painter, draughtsman, and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his successful works depict supernatural experiences, such as '' The Nightmare''. He pr ...

. From 1780 to 1782, with financial assistance, he made a study tour of Germany which included time at the Drawing Academy in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and a visit to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, where he discovered the works of

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

. From 1782 to 1789, he spent much of his time in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he became part of the German artistic community; befriending

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, known as the ''Goethe Tischbein'' (15 February 1751 in Haina – 26 June 1829 in Eutin), was a German painter from the Tischbein family of artists. Biography Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein was born on 15 Febr ...

, who was touring Italy with

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

. Although grateful to Lavater for his continuing support, he felt trapped in Rome and his natural tendency to

hypochondria Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that th ...

intensified. In 1789, thanks to a recommendation from Goethe, he was able to become a Professor at the

Weimar Princely Free Drawing School The Weimar Princely Free Drawing School () was an art and literature educational establishment. It was set up in 1776 in Weimar by the scholar and ducal private-secretary Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747–1822) and the painter Georg Melchior Krau ...

. While there, he illustrated works by Goethe and

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

and created portraits of numerous German creative artists and intellectuals. He quit his position five years later, following a rift with Goethe, and returned to Zürich. In 1796, he was married and, the following year, became a citizen there. During this time, he illustrated the complete works of

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...

. After 1801, he was a regular participant in the exhibitions of the Zürcher Künstlergesellschaft (art society). He left a legacy of almost 1,500 engravings.

References

External links

ArtNet: More works by Lips.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lips, Johann Heinrich 1758 births 1817 deaths 18th-century Swiss engravers 19th-century Swiss engravers 18th-century Swiss illustrators 19th-century Swiss illustrators Swiss etchers 18th-century etchers People from Bülach District

Biography

References

Further reading

External links