David Simonson

David Simonson (born March 15, 1831 in Dresden ; † February 8, 1896 ibid) was a German portrait and history painter and founder of the private "Academy for Drawing, Painting and Modeling" in Dresden.

life and work

David Simonson, the second son of the Jewish butcher Aaron Simonso (h) n and Johanna Wollheim (* 1811) from Lissa , became a student of Eduard Bendemann at the Art Academy in Dresden . In 1852 Simonson received the Michael Beer Prize from the Royal Prussian Academy of the Arts in Berlin. This enabled Simonson to finance a one-year study visit to Italy in 1853. In Rome he became a member of the German Art Association . His journey took him on to Egypt and later he lived in London for a few years, from where he then returned to Dresden.

Simonson had been a member of the “Monday Society” since 1865. At that time, the directory of the debating club for witty people named 54 people, including his painter colleagues Julius Hübner and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld , as well as the writers Charles Edouard Duboc and Gustav Kühne . Since 1868 Simonson was also a member of the "Literarisches Verein", a society founded in April 1863 to promote literature, art and science. He was also a member of the Dresden Art Cooperative . At that time Simonson lived at Eliasstrasse 2, today's Güntzstrasse, in Dresden.

In the period between 1860 and 1880 David Simonson founded the “Academy for Drawing, Painting and Modeling” in Dresden. In 1896 his son, Ernst Oskar Simonson-Castelli , continued the academy. After Simonson-Castelli's death, Woldemar Winkler continued to run the academy from 1929 to 1943 under the name Academy for Drawing and Painting - Simonson-Castelli as director and owner on Ostbahnstraße .

In Dresden the climate in social circles was not insignificantly shaped by the presence and charisma of women. Most had gained access to the art world through their fathers, husbands or brothers, but could not receive an academic education, similar to the training opportunities for men at the Dresden Art Academy . In 1895 David Simonson founded the first painting academy for women in Dresden. It was not until 1900 that a specific order for a “female department with separate classrooms” was given in the Dresden School of Applied Arts and implemented around 1906.

Gustav-Adolf-Strasse 11, Dresden-Strehlen

Most recently he lived at Gustav-Adolf-Straße 11 in Strehlen . After his death in 1896, David Simonson was buried in the Trinity Cemetery. David Simonson's paintings can be found in Dresden's museums.

family

David Simonson was married to a descendant of the Castelli family of musicians and painters in Dresden, including the painter Christian Gottlob Castelli (1741–1799) and the portrait painter Louis Anton Gottlob Castelli (1805–1849). In the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister there is a portrait of his wife from 1867. The couple had several children. The daughter Henriette Simonson-Castelli (* 1860) married the painter and later professor at the Gotthardt Kuehl Art Academy (1850–1915). The son Ernst Oskar Simonson-Castelli (born November 20, 1864 in Dresden; † September 27, 1929 there) also became a painter.

Works (selection)

• Hagar with the fainting Ishmael
• David speaks to Saul
• The great sphinx at the pyramid of Giza
• Boat trip, memory of Egypt
• Young Egyptian
• The artist's wife, b. Castelli, 1867
• Knitting girl
• The risen Christ. Fresco in the town church of Eibenstock , completed in 1870
• The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1880.
• Half-length portrait of a gentleman, 1889

Web links

• David Simonson. on Stadtwiki Dresden, accessed on June 4, 2016

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Aaron Simonson, Schächter Jewish, Kleine Brüdergasse 312, Dresden , in Dresdner Adress-Kalender 1831, p. 259.
2. ↑ The Schiff Family: Johanna Wollheim, a Matriarch (English), sources of the information are according to the author Frank Gent the archive of the Jewish Museum in Leszno and the Jewish community register in Dresden , on schifffamilytrieste.blogspot.de from May 6, 2016, accessed on 5th June 2016.
3. ^ Simonson (David), student of Prof. E. Bendemann: Portrait of the artist's wife, b. Castelli, 1867 , Julius Hübner: Directory of the Royal Painting Gallery in Dresden. BG Teubner, 1872, p. 383.
4. ↑ David Simonson, pencil drawings from a sketchbook 1853: Standing Italian Shepherd - Standing Italian with spindle - Standing Italian seen from behind - Italian with tambourine . From invaluable.com, accessed June 5, 2016.
5. ^ Dirk Hempel: Literary associations in Dresden. Niemeyer-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-484-35116-5 , p. 101 ( limited preview in Google book search).
6. ^ Dirk Hempel: Literary associations in Dresden. Niemeyer-Verlag, 2008, ISBN 978-3-484-35116-5 , p. 123 ( limited preview in Google book search).
7. ^ Members of the Allgemeine Deutsche Kunstgenossenschaft 1868, Dresden: David Simonson, painter , on wladimir-aichelburg.at, accessed on June 5, 2016.
8. ^ Simonson, Dav., History Painter, Eliasstrasse 2, Dresden. In: Address and business manual of the royal capital and residence city of Dresden for the year 1868. P. 272.
9. ↑ State capital Dresden receives over 2000 paintings, graphics, photographs and documents. May 6, 2003, accessed on January 22, 2017 (report on the estate of the Dresden Academy Simonson-Castelli by Woldemar Winkler). 
10. ^ Family name "Castelli" in the list of names of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden ( Memento from June 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
11. ^ Heinrich Keller : Messages from all artists living in Dresden. Leipzig, 1788, p. 32 ( digitized in the Google book search).
12. ↑ Image: The great Sphinx at the pyramid of Giza , on kunst-fuer-alle.de, accessed on June 4, 2016.
13. ↑ David Simonson: Oriental au Turban Rouge , at artsalesindex.artinfo.com, accessed June 5, 2016.
14. ^ Photograph of the portrait of the wife of the artist David Simonson , on picture index of art and architecture
15. ↑ Figure Portrait of a Gentleman, David Simonson, 1889