Christian Ruben

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Christian Ruben

Christoph Christian Ruben (born November 30, 1805 in Trier , † July 9, 1875 in Inzersdorf near Vienna ) was a German-Austrian painter and university professor .

Life

Christian Ruben was the son of Karl Ruben (1772–1843), a drawing teacher at the Trier grammar school , who also taught his son there. After high school he went to Düsseldorf in 1823 to study painting under Peter Cornelius at the Royal Prussian Art Academy . The altarpiece of a Descent from the Cross was created during this time as the first major work in his history painting . When Cornelius moved to Munich , he moved there in 1826 and worked on the cardboard boxes for the new glass windows of the Regensburg Cathedral and the Auer Church . Initially as an assistant to Cornelius, later as an independent artist, he worked for King Ludwig I on several large building projects. In 1836 Ruben was commissioned with the compositions for the decoration of Hohenschwangau Castle .

Soon he also devoted himself to genre painting . This created atmospheric motifs that were also published as engravings and lithographs and were widely used. As a friend of Max Haushofer , he belonged to his artist colony of landscape and genre painters who became known as Chiemsee painters . He married a sister of Haushofer's wife Anna, Susanna Dumbser (1819–1903), a landlord's daughter from Fraueninsel . The couple had several sons. Of these, the oldest, Franz Ruben , also became the painter.

Columbus at the moment when he discovered the new world , around 1845

In 1841 he visited Rome , where on April 29th he took part in the "Cervarofest" of the Ponte Molle Society . In the same year he was appointed director of the Art Academy in Prague , where he decorated the Belvedere with wall paintings. During this time his oil painting Columbus was created at the moment when he was discovering the new world . Count Franz and Leo von Thun were among his supporters, and he was also friends with the former. He painted a magnificent hall for Prince Hugo Karl Eduard zu Salm-Reifferscheidt, and he delivered three altarpieces for the church in Turnau .

In 1850 he became a member of the commission for the reform of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna . From 1852 to 1872 he was director of this academy. He was not popular with all of his contemporaries, so he had a well-known opponent in Carl Rahl . Through his work at the academy, Ruben hardly found opportunities to pursue his artistic skills. He invested a great deal of time in implementing the necessary reforms and in administrative work or focused on teaching his students. These included Karl Böheim , Siegmund L'Allemand , Ferdinand Laufberger , Gabriel von Max and Wenzel Schwarz . The Austrian painter Franz Russ (* 1844 in Vienna; † 1906 there) was also one of his students.

Ruben contributed to a prayer book ( Small Office of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary ) with some miniatures, which the Academy had made in 1854 as a wedding present for Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary . Also on the missal ( Missale Romanum ) that Franz Joseph I. Pope Pius IX in 1868 . handed over, he had a share.

Grave of the married couple Susanna and Christian Ruben with his portrait relief, Fraueninsel cemetery

A few years after his retirement, Ruben died at the age of 69 in Inzersdorf near Vienna. As awards he had received the title of an Imperial and Royal Councilor and various medals, such as the Order of the Iron Crown III. Class, the Franz Joseph Order , the Knight's Cross of the Belgian Order of Leopold , the Officer's Cross of the Mexican Order of Guadalupe and the Commander's Cross of the Papal Order of Gregory . His grave is in the Frauenchiemsee cemetery .

literature

Web links

Commons : Christian Ruben  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Noack : The Germanness in Rome since the end of the Middle Ages . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1927, Volume 2, p. 501
  2. ↑ The Serenade . In: The Aldine - The art journal of America . New York 1879, Sp. 320 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  3. ^ E. Springer: Ruben, Christian (1805-1875), painter. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon. Volume 9, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 19878, p. 308 ( biographien.ac.at )
  4. ↑ In memory of Christian Ruben . In: Carl von Lützow (Hrsg.): Journal for fine arts . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1876, Volume 11, p. 372 f. ( Google Books )
  5. ↑ Gerd Otto-Rieke: Graves in Bavaria. Munich 2000, p. 112.
personal data
SURNAME Ruben, Christian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ruben, Christoph Christian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian painter and university lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1805
PLACE OF BIRTH trier
DATE OF DEATH July 9, 1875
Place of death Inzersdorf