Oskar or Oscar Schmerling (; ,

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

, 1867 –

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, 1938) was a Russian and Georgian illustrator of ethnic German background.

Early life

Oskar Schmerling was born into a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

German family in the North Caucasian city of

on . His family came to the Russian Empire on the wave of German emigration at the beginning of the 19th century. His father, Ivan, was a lieutenant colonel in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. His mother Matilda was the sister of the architect

Albert Salzmann Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

, who designed a number of buildings in

, including the building of the Tbilisi Art Gallery. Growing up with his uncle, he studied in Tiflis Real School.

Education

According to Schmerling's own autobiography, his academic results weren't good and he tried to publish a periodical named ''Mosquito'' () unsuccessfully in 1880–1881. He later started drawing caricatures for Ivan Petroev's magazine ''Scorpion'' (). After quitting his job, he went on to study at Faculty of Graphic Art of

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 ...

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 ...

in August 1884 and graduated in 1889. He continued to collaborate with others on various publications during his study. According to his autobiography, these were the German magazine ''Pipifax'', Russian publications ''Son of the Fatherland'' () and ''The Jester'' (). He moved to his father's house in

Khankendi Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region. The city is located in a valley on ...

where he gathered a group of amateur actors and set up a theater troupe in 1889. He left for

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1891, enrolling in

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

, specializing on the painting of battle scenes. He collaborated with Bavarian magazine called ''Cyclists' Humor'' () and ''Münchener Volks-Zeitung'' newspaper during his time there.

Career

After graduation in 1892, he returned to Tiflis and began teaching at Transcaucasian Girls' Institute. He illustrated

Iakob Gogebashvili Iakob Gogebashvili ( ka, იაკობ გოგებაშვილი) (October 27, 1840 – June 1, 1912) was a Georgian educator, children’s writer and journalist, considered to be the founder of the scientific pedagogy in Georgia. Throu ...

's children's book ''Mother Language'' (დედა ენა). Schmerling was the director of the school of painting and sculpture at the Caucasian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in 1902–1916, and was the professor in Tiflis Academy of Arts. He worked as drawing instructor in Mikhailov Trade School in Tiflis starting February 1914. He moved to

Ganja ''Ganja'' (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for cannabis flower, specifically marijuana or hashish. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi (, IPA: �aːɲd͡ʒa� ...

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

in 1919, where he worked for state publishing house. He continued to work in People's Education Committee and publishing house after Soviet takeover in 1920 and drew posters for Azerbaijani branch of the

Russian Telegraph Agency Russian Telegraph Agency (, ROSTA) was the state news agency in Soviet Russia between 1918 and 1935. It was the central information organ of the Soviet Union. After the creation of Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union in 1925, it remained the ne ...

until 1921. He moved back to Tiflis in August 1921, collaborated with a number of Soviet newspapers. His disciples include

Lado Gudiashvili Lado Gudiashvili ( ka, ლადო გუდიაშვილი; 30 March 1896 – 20 July 1980) was a Georgian painter. Life Gudiashvili was born into a family of a railroad employee. He studied in the Tbilisi school of sculpture and fin ...

, Ketevan Goliashvili, Aleksandre Tsimakuridze,

Mikheil Chiaureli Mikheil Chiaureli ( ka, მიხეილ ჭიაურელი, , 6 February 1894 – 31 October 1974) was a Soviet Georgian actor, film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 films between 1928 and 1974. He was awarded the Stalin ...

Grigor Vahramian Gasparbeg Grigor Vahramian Gasparbeg (; ) was an Iranian painter of Armenian descent. Most of Gasparbeg's paintings are in oil and of classical style. Early life Gasparbeg was born in 1900 to Stepan and Mariam Gasparbeg in Nakhchivan (city), Old Nakhichev ...

and others.

Works

He participated in exhibitions of the Caucasian Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, and illustrated a lot of Georgian children's literature. He is most remembered for the cartoon series from the life of old Tiflis, which were first published in the 1910s in the form of postcards. Starting 1901, he collaborated with contemporary periodicals as the Georgian ''Notice Sheet'' (), ''Devil's Whip'' (), ''Stomach'' (), ''Wasp'' (), the Armenian ''

Khatabala ''Khatabala'' (; ) was a twelve-page Armenian satirical periodical published in Tiflis (Tbilisi) from 1906 to 1916 and again in 1922 and 1925–26 in the Armenian and occasionally Russian and Georgian languages. It was founded by Astvatsatur Yer ...

'' ((published in Tiflis in 1906–1916), the Azerbaijani ''Molla Nasraddin'' (published in Tiflis in 1906–1914 and in 1917) and others. File:The first issue of Molla Nasreddin (1906).jpg, The first issue of Molla Nasraddin (1906) File:Molla Nasreddin (31 mart 1907 N13).jpg, Caricature of

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev Hajji Mirza Zeynalabdin Taghi oghlu Taghiyev (; ) (b. 25 January 1821, 1823, or 1838, d. 1 September 1924) was an Azerbaijani national industrial magnate and philanthropist. Early life Zeynalabdin Taghiyev was born into the poor family of a sh ...

for Molla Nasraddin File:Эмир Бухарский раздает ордена в Петербурге.jpg, Caricature of

'Abd al-Ahad Khan Said Abd al-Ahad Khan ( Chagatai and ; 26 March 1859 – 3 January 1911) was the 7th emir of the Uzbek Manghit dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of the Emirate of Bukhara, which at the time was a part of the Russian Empire. He ascended to the tit ...

for Molla Nasraddin File:Tatarerin, Shmerling.jpg, A Tatar ( Azerbaijani) woman in Georgia File:Old Tbilisi, Oskar Shmerling 1.JPG, "To your health!" - Postcard File:O. Shmerling - Tiflis (22).jpg,

Lezginka The Lezginka () is a folk dance of the Lezgin people, common throughout the North Caucasus. It uses a fast rhythm, and can be either a solo male or a pair dance. According to ''Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, g ...

File:Cartoon of Alexander Shirvanzade in Khatabala.jpg, Caricature of Alexander Shirvanzade for

File:The final of Armenian-Turkish conflicts in Khatabala.jpg, " End of Armenian–Turkish massacres" for

Family

He was married to a woman named Anzhelina Albertovna. Their first child, the future art historian

Rene Schmerling Rene Oskarovna Schmerling ( ka, რენე შმერლინგი; December 5, 1901 – February 18, 1967) was a Georgian art historian and art critic famous for her work on medieval and Byzantine Georgian art. Biography Born in Tbili ...

, was born in 1901. Their son Edgar was born in 1906. Schmerling died on 2 January 1938 and was buried in Vake Cemetery in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. Schmerling was the uncle of the artist and set designer Alexander Von Salzman, who from 1917 created many caricatures for the Devils' Whip.

Notes

:1. Published in

, 1887-1889.

References

External links

*
Beyond Caricature - The Oskar Schmerling Digital Archive
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmerling, Oskar Imperial Academy of Arts alumni Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni German caricaturists People from Stavropol Russian caricaturists Soviet cartoonists German editorial cartoonists Russian editorial cartoonists 20th-century German illustrators 20th-century Russian illustrators 1867 births 1938 deaths