Christian Förster

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Johann Hinrich Christian Förster (born October 9, 1825 in Hamburg ; † August 6, 1902 there ) was a German painter , graphic artist and caricaturist .

Live and act

Christian Förster's father was a native of Danzig . In Hamburg he had an inn in the parish of Jacobi. According to an obituary in the Hamburg correspondent , Christian Förster attended the Academy of Arts in Berlin and then sat in on painters in Paris . However, there is no further evidence for this. There he learned to draw people and animals in an excellent way. His motifs appeared lively in their movements with pronounced facial and gestural expression.

From the beginning of 1850 he worked as an illustrator for the two-year-old newspaper Reform . The paper, which was mostly read by the petty bourgeoisie, developed into the newspaper with the highest circulation in Hamburg. It was a large-format, four-column work, the title page of which showed a two-column picture of what was new and unique on the Hamburg newspaper market. The newspaper appeared over 45 years with 10,000 covers, some of which appeared multiple times. Most of these images were created by Förster, who was therefore also known as the “reform forester”.

In addition to working on the reform , Förster also created pen drawings that were used as templates for xylographies . These appeared in satirical magazines such as the Omnibus , the Industrial Humorist and the Hamburg Wasps . Förster created factual or caricaturing portraits and pictures of warlike, political and social processes and innovations in technology and architecture. Many pictures showed working life and the fashions that were worn in the streets. The costumes of the traders in the markets, other professional groups, the citizen's military and professional soldiers were among the motifs. Förster was particularly fond of folk festivals and the different types of society. He mostly created caricatures on topics related to politics and society. The draftsman provided depictions of bourgeois life with dialog-like subtexts. They thus became illustrated jokes that mostly dealt with human weaknesses and everyday joys. He often wrote the texts in Low German or Mississippi . Förster created many pictures of Jewish people talking in Mauschel jargon. The initially harmless jokes turned into anti-Semitic slurs in later years. In other works it can be seen that Förster increasingly took nationalistically arrogant positions, especially on military issues.

Christian Förster illustrated several books that contained humorous Low German stories. This included De Reis na'n Hamborger Dom by Theodor Piening from 1883. He also made lithographs of Hamburg originals such as Hans Hummel . A few small oil paintings and watercolors are also known, which Förster probably used for study purposes for his lithographic works.

Since Förster lived extremely withdrawn, little is known about him, in contrast to his works.

In 1948 Christian-Förster-Strasse in Hamburg-Hoheluft-West was named after him.

family

Christian Förster married twice. The first marriage resulted in a daughter, and the second marriage with the graphic designer and writer Hans Förster .

Exhibitions (selection)

literature

personal data
SURNAME Forester, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Förster, Johann Hinrich Christian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, graphic artist and caricaturist
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1902
Place of death Hamburg