François Forster

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François Forster: Portrait of Ingres

François Forster (born August 22, 1790 in Le Locle , † June 25, 1872 in Paris , resident in Kirchberg SG and from 1818 in Neuchâtel ) was a Swiss - French engraver .

Profession and work

Forster learned to be an engraver and was trained to engrave watch shells. In 1805 he went to France to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Here he became a student of Pierre Gabriel Langlois . In 1809 and 1814 he was awarded prizes and received a French state scholarship from for a study visit to Rome for the period from 1815 to 1817.

When Neuchâtel became Prussian again in 1814, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III left him . the granted scholarship generously. From 1818 he worked again in Paris.

His life's work as an engraver is extensive. Numerous portraits of princes and adaptations of ancient sculptures as copper engravings determined his work. He also engraved numerous paintings by famous classical French and Italian masters, as well as works of contemporary art in copper. The sheet Vierge au bas relief is considered to be his main work . In 1828 he became a French citizen.

honors and awards

In 1838 he became a knight and in 1863 an officer of the French Legion of Honor . Forster was a member and since 1854 president of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. On May 31, 1857 he was accepted as a foreign member of the Prussian order Pour le Mérite for science and the arts.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Forster, François
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Engraver
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1790
PLACE OF BIRTH Le Locle
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1872
Place of death Paris