Benjamin Zix

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The battle of Lübeck , November 7th, 1806. Prussian and French troops fight in front of the castle gate - Benjamin Zix.

Benjamin Zix (born April 25, 1772 in Strasbourg , † December 7, 1811 in Perugia ) was a Franco-German painter.

Life

Zix learned from 1788 in the drawing school Joseph Mellings (1724-1796), then with Christophe Guérin (1758-1831) in Strasbourg. He joined the Rhine Army in 1792 , where he found a patron in General Balthazar von Schauenburg , who called him to his headquarters as a draftsman. Zix took leave of the army in 1800 and settled in Strasbourg.

On the occasion of Napoleon's solemn entry into Strasbourg in September 1805, for whose preparation Zix had drawn the design for the triumphal arch, he attracted the attention of the artist and general director of the imperial museums Vivant Denon, who was valued by Napoleon . Equipped with numerous privileges, he traveled through Europe in Napoleon's retinue. He took the young Zix into his service, who now had the opportunity, as Napoleon's historiographer , to record the warlike and political deeds of the Corsican with a pencil. Zix came to Munich in December 1805, to Vienna in January 1806, to Paris via Strasbourg in spring 1806 and to Frankfurt in the autumn of the same year following Denon's entourage. In the entourage of the main army, he drew the battles in Saalburg and Schleiz on October 8 and 9, and shortly after the battle of Jena and Auerstedt he came to Weimar, where he portrayed Goethe . From there he traveled to Berlin, where he witnessed the entry of Napoleon on October 27, 1806.

In February 1807, Zix returned to Paris. From autumn 1808 to February 1809 he stayed with Denon in Spain. In the summer of 1809 he was in Denon's entourage in Austria (Linz, Wagram, Vienna). In November 1809 he returned via Munich, where he did the lith. Alois Senefelders institute visited. Then it went via Strasbourg to Paris.

In the autumn of 1811 Zix traveled with Denon via Lyon, Aix-les-Bains, Chalon-sur-Saone, Avignon to Florence and Rome. On the return trip he contracted a fatal illness. In 1811 he died of a fever in Perugia.

The individual stages of his eventful life can be seen in Zix's extensive correspondence with his family and his autobiographical sketch, which can be found in Dollinger's.

plant

Zix is ​​one of the most famous painters of his era. As the official histographer of Napoleon's armed deeds, he recorded the battlefields, the conquered places and cities as well as the military scenes of the years 1806-10 with a pen for posterity.

His drawings and paintings hang in the museums of Strasbourg, Mulhouse and the Louvre in Paris. Many are also privately owned. One of his most famous pictures is his drawing of Napoleon and Marie-Louise on a visit to the Louvre's antique halls (around 1810).

Heinrich Reinhold used some of Zix's drawings as models for his engravings, including, for example: Napoleon at Wagram 5./6. July 1809, asleep by the watch fire. Zix's drawing of the battlefield of Eylau is probably the model for Antoine-Jean Gros ' famous Louvre painting.

Original Zix sheets may include a. nine etchings: Picturesque views of the former Alsace etc., Strasbourg 1805 (8 sheets), some aquatint engravings (made in 1809) Lithogr .: Rest of the Holy Family on the run.

His two large watercolors: The Marriage of Napoleon (Louvre and Manuf. Nat. Sèvres), should be used for the jewelry of the never completed a. lost Sèvres vase: Mariage de l'Empereur, find use.

In the Strasbourg museum a “B.Zix pinx.” Inscribed. Miniature portrait of a young man (Cat. 1938, No. 500)

Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian : A soldier from 1813 ("Histoire d'un conscrit de 1813"). Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart 1968 (cover picture and 12 illustrations by Benjamin Zix).

honors and awards

Strasbourg honored its famous son with a “Place Benjamin Zix” in the historic center of the city.

Exhibitions

  • 1911: Exhibition on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the artist's death in Strasbourg, Rohan Castle
  • 1961: Exhibition on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the artist's death in Strasbourg, Rohan Castle

literature

Web links

Commons : Benjamin Zix  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ August Schricker:  Zix, Benjamin . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 45, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1900, p. 382.
  2. ↑ Annekatrin Puhle: With Goethe through the world of spirits: Spirit meetings from many centuries . Reichl Verlag, St. Goar 2006, ISBN 3-87667-268-6 , p. 164 ( books.google.de - illustration of the drawing). The drawing is in the Goethe Museum in Frankfurt.
personal data
SURNAME Zix, Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-French painter
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1772
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH December 7, 1811
Place of death Perugia