Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (approx. 1865)

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (born April 20, 1805 in Menzenschwand in the Black Forest as Xaver Winterhalder; † July 8, 1873 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German painter . In the 19th century he was one of the most sought-after and famous portrait painters .

Life

Birthplace of the two painters in Menzenschwand

family

Franz Xaver Winterhalter's father Fidelis (1773–1863, wrote himself “Winterhalder”, Franz Xaver Winterhalter signed his pictures until 1825 also with Xaver Winterhalder) was a watch bearer to Transylvania , Harzer , Kübler and a juror . After Hieronimus Maier, the husband of his second daughter Justina (1793–1867), died in 1838, he was the landlord in his Gasthaus Adler. Fidel Winterhalter had been married to Eva Mayer since 1790, whose father Josef was a brother of the great-grandfather of the painter Hans Thoma . The father of the two men was Michael Mayer (1704–1740). The maternal relatives also include:

• Franz Sales Mayer (1803–), painter and lithographer
• Ludwig Mayer, botanist and landscape painter from Waldshut
• Franz Winkler (1899–1849), painter and sculptor from Bernau
• Otto Ernst Sutter (1884–1970), writer from Freiburg

Franz Xaver Winterhalter was the seventh of nine siblings, but only four of them survived childhood. Among the deceased siblings was the sixth child of the same name Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1802–1804), with whom the painter is occasionally confused in literature.

education

Franz Xaver Winterhalter: self-portrait (left) with brother Hermann (1840)

He attended the village school in St. Blasien , where the priest Josef Berthold Liber (1781–1854) discovered and promoted the boy's talent for drawing. Liber was a monk in the monastery of St. Blasien , which was secularized in 1807 . The thirteen-year-old Winterhalter was given a four-year apprenticeship with the French draftsman and copper engraver Charles Louis Schuler (1785-1852) by his father in 1818, with the greatest financial effort . When he became head of the Herder's Art Institute in Freiburg in 1819 , he took his apprentice with him. His brother Hermann (1808–1891) also began an apprenticeship with Herder a little later and also became a successful painter.

With the support of the industrialist David von Eichthal , who was active in St. Blasien , Winterhalter received a scholarship from Grand Duke Ludwig I to study painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. During this time Winterhalter worked in the studio of the portrait painter Joseph Karl Stieler and also worked as a lithographer. After completing his studies, he went to Karlsruhe in 1828 , where he found employment as a drawing teacher for Sophie von Baden and where he painted portraits of the grand ducal family.

breakthrough

From 1833 to 1834 he traveled to Italy, where he shared the studio with Johann Baptist Kirner . Mainly romantic genre scenes in the style of Louis Léopold Roberts were created . In Rome he joined a circle of French artists. After his return, he was appointed court painter to the Baden court by Grand Duke Leopold in Karlsruhe on August 20, 1834 , but left the grand ducal court a short time later to move to Paris. Here it attracted great attention in the salons of 1836 and 1837 with Italian genre scenes . His painting “Decamerone”, exhibited in 1837, won the 1st medal and marked his breakthrough.

Royalty and death

With the protection of King Louis Philippe , Winterhalter rose to be the most sought-after portrait painter in France. As a French court painter, he painted portraits of the entire royal family and the leading members of the court. The success of these pictures earned him the reputation of a specialist in aristocratic portraits, so that he received commissions from many European noble and ruling houses . Queen Victoria called him to the British court in 1841.

Winterhalter's grave monument in Frankfurt's main cemetery

In 1852 he followed Queen Isabella's call to Spain. After Napoleon III ascended the throne . he went back to Paris. His customers also included the Belgian royal family and the imperial courts in Saint Petersburg and Vienna. The portraits of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) are among his most famous works. In addition to individual portraits, he created group pictures, whereby he designed his compositions more and more freely and loosened up his painting.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter died of typhus at the age of 68 during a stay in Frankfurt am Main . He is buried in the main cemetery there. The overall conception of his grave complex was carried out by the architect Oskar Sommer . The sculptor Gustav Kaupert created the mourning marble angel in an ancient robe.

style

Winterhalter: Sophie Troubetskoï, Duchesse de Morny , 1863, (Musée du Second Empire, Compiègne Castle )

Already during his lifetime his contemporaries called him, partly appreciatively, partly driven by envy, the “Prince Painter”. His clients were almost all protagonists of the European nobility from Lisbon to Moscow, from barons to emperors. Winterhalter's portraits were valued for their subtle intimacy, although his ability to create a dream image of those portrayed certainly contributed to his great popularity. He combined the similarity of the portrayed with flattery and presented courtly splendor with the current fashion of his time. He succeeded in capturing the social and political climate of each court and adapting his style to the respective customer. His official court portraits served the self-portrayal of the monarchies and were specifically used for public relations work. In order to meet the growing demand for portraits, many of which were created in different versions, Winterhalter maintained a large studio with numerous assistants. In addition, his works found a large audience by means of lithographic reproduction.

Winterhalter's portraits were so popular that he was often commissioned to make several copies of a single piece. Above all, a large number of the state portraits were in great demand, not least because they wanted to show an impressive presence in ministries and offices. So emerged from the state portrait of Napoleon III alone . six known versions. These replicas were partly made by Franz Xaver Winterhalter himself, but it was often his brother Hermann who made such copies. The brushstroke of the two brothers is almost identical, so that today it is difficult to determine with certainty who of the two artists made the respective replica. On closer inspection of the portraits and the copies of them, it is also noticeable that the facial features and the physiognomy of the depicted people are painted a lot more subtly and finely than the rest of the body and the background. This phenomenon is well known in European art history : it was often the master himself who painted the head and face while he left the rest of his workshop, i.e. the journeymen and assistants. Albert Graefle (1809–1898) was one of his students and assistants .

reception

Museum “Le Petit Salon” next to the birthplace

Queen Victoria of Great Britain, whose collection included over 100 of his pictures, wrote to her daughter Vicky in Berlin after his death : “This death is terrible, irreparable [...]. His work, however, will compete with those of van Dyck in later times . ” Even if this classification is not shared by art historians more than a century later, his pictures are considered a reflection of the ruling class in the mid-19th century. Largely unaffected by the new trends in painting that broke out in France, such as the Barbizon School or the early Impressionism , his work, although at a very high level of craftsmanship, remained without significant influence for the following generations of artists.

In the art market today, Winterhalter oil paintings can cost up to $ 371,000.

In 2008, an association was founded in Menzenschwand that runs the Le Petit Salon museum dedicated to him .

In 2016 a much-visited Winterhalter exhibition was presented in Freiburg : “Painters on Her Majesty's Order”.

Works (selection)

image	Motif (year of origin)	Size, material	Collection / owner (also copies)
	General Ferdinand of Malaisé (1827)	pencil	Privately owned
	Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden (1830)	Oil on canvas	Badisches Landesmuseum , Karlsruhe
	Italian genre scene (1833)	Oil on canvas	Privately owned
	Decameron (1837)	190.5 × 254 cm oil on canvas	Liechtenstein Museum
	Franz Oliver of Jenison-Walworth (1837)	Oil on canvas	New Pinakothek gallery
	Leopold I of Belgium (1840)	Oil on canvas	Royal Palace , Brussels Ehrenburg Castle , Coburg
	Queen Marie Christine of Spain (about 1841)	Oil on canvas	Versailles Palace , Versailles
	Louise d'Orléans (around 1841)	Oil on canvas	Collection of the Belgian Royal Family, Brussels
	King Louis-Philippe (1841)	Oil on canvas	Versailles Palace , Versailles
	Queen Marie Amelie (1842)	215 × 140 cm oil on canvas	Versailles Palace , Versailles
	Leonilla Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1843)	56 × 83.5 cm oil on canvas	J. Paul Getty Museum , Los Angeles, Inv. No. 86.PA.534
	Maria Karolina Augusta of Naples and Sicily (copy 1846)	215 × 142 cm oil on canvas	Versailles Palace , Versailles
	Maximilian of Austria (2nd half of the 19th century)	Oil on canvas	Collection of the Belgian Royal Family, Brussels
	The First of May 1851 (1851)	130 × 107 cm oil on canvas	Collection of the British Royal Family
	Emperor Napoleon III. (Copy 1855)	240 × 155 cm oil on canvas	Museo Napoleonico, Rome
	Empress Eugénie of France with her ladies-in-waiting, (1855)	300 × 420 cm oil on canvas	Compiègne Castle , Compiègne
	Grand Duchess Olga (1856)	120.7 × 91.4 cm, oil on canvas	State Museum Württemberg , Stuttgart
	Varvara Rimsky-Korsakov (1858)	oil	Penza Savitsky Art Gallery, Pensa
	Queen Victoria in coronation regalia (1859)	241.9 × 157.5 cm oil on canvas	Collection of the British Royal Family
	George V, King of Hanover and 2nd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (ca.1860)	Oil on canvas	Residence museum in Celle Castle
	Charlotte of Belgium (1864)	Oil on canvas	Hearst Castle , San Simeon
	Elisabeth of Austria (1865)	Oil on canvas	Hofburg , Vienna
	Franz Joseph I (1865)	Oil on canvas	Hofburg , Vienna
	Queen Olga (1865)	242 × 149 cm oil on canvas	State Museum Württemberg , Stuttgart

Exhibitions

• 1987/88: Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe 1830-70 . National Portrait Gallery , London, October 30, 1987 to January 10, 1988 and Musée du Petit Palais , Paris, February 11 to May 7, 1988.
• 2014: Masterful portraits of the princely painters in the 19th century , together with pictures by Franz von Lenbach , Heinrich von Angeli and Friedrich August von Kaulbach in Schloss Fasanerie near Fulda.
• 2015/16 Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Painter on Her Majesty's behalf . Augustinermuseum , Freiburg im Breisgau , November 28, 2015 to March 20, 2016.
• 2016: High Society. The Portraits of Franz X. Winterhalter . Museum of Fine Arts , Houston , April 17 to August 14, 2016
• 2016/2017: Winterhalter. Portraits de cour entre faste et élégance . Palais de Compiègne : Musées Nationaux du Palais de Compiègne , September 30, 2016 - January 15, 2017.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Winterhalter, Franz Xavier . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 57th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1889, p. 87 ( digitized version ).
• Hyacinth Holland :  Winterhalter, Franz . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 43, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1898, pp. 497-499.
• Friedrich Pecht . In: Badische Biographien , Heidelberg 1875, pp. 510-517, (digitized version )
• Richard Ormond , Carol Blackett-Ord: Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe 1830–70. National Portrait Gallery, London 1992, ISBN 0-8109-3964-9 .
• Peter Hawig: Offenbach , Labiche and Winterhalter. Culture with mask in the second empire of Napoleon III. (= Jacques Offenbach series of Bad Emser Hefte , No. 5. ZDB -ID 2581518-0 = Bad Emser Hefte , No. 107). Association for History, Monument and Landscape Conservation eV, Bad Ems 1993.
• Hubert Mayer (ed.): The artist family Winterhalter. An exchange of letters. Braun, Karlsruhe 1998, ISBN 3-7650-8215-5 .
• Ingeborg Eismann: Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873). The prince painter of Europe. Imhof, Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-203-1 , review:.
• Walter F. Kalina: A courtly portrait of Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Napoleon III moves into the Army History Museum . In: Viribus Unitis. Annual report of the Army History Museum 2012 , Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-902551-37-5 , pp. 27-44.
• Helga Kessler Aurisch, Laure Chabanne, Tilmann von Stockhausen , Mirja Straub: Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Painter on Her Majesty's behalf . Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-89790-449-1 .
• Jürgen Glocker: The painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter. An essay . Morio, Heidelberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-945424-30-8 .
• Eugene Arnold Barilo von Reisberg: Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873): portraiture in the age of social change , School of Culture and Communication, 2016, digitized (doctoral thesis)

Movie

• The painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Documentary, Germany, France, Great Britain, 2015, 51:54 min., Script and director: Grit Lederer, production: Medea Film Factory, Radio Bremen , arte , first broadcast: February 28, 2016 on arte, summary by ARD .

Web links

Commons : Franz Xaver Winterhalter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Franz Xaver Winterhalter in the catalog of the German National Library
• Le Petit Salon Winterhalter in Menzenschwand
• The Winterhalter Catalog : Online project to create a catalog raisonné by the Winterhalter brothers
• Works by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
• Entry on the commercial site Artcyclopedia
• Alexandra Matzner: Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Courtly portraits between status and pomp. In: artinwords.de , October 5, 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Eugene Barilo from Reisberg: Some notes on the Winterhalter Family. In: The Winterhalter Catalog. July 13, 2012, accessed March 19, 2016 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Emil Baader : Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873), the European prince painter ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: Badische Heimat 40, 1960, pp. 367–376.
3. ↑ Bernau: Even with a white beard, the "boy". ( Memento of March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: Südkurier , March 5, 2004.
4. ↑ Winkler, Franz . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 5 : V-Z. Supplements: A-G . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1961.
5. ↑ z. B. With Ingeborg Eismann: Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873). The Prince Painter of Europe , Petersberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-86568-203-1 , p. 8.
6. ^ Tilmann von Stockhausen : Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Black Forest . In: Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Painter on behalf of Her Majesty , Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-89790-449-1 , pp. 25–28.
7. ^ Björn Wissenbach: Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Painter. ( Memento from October 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: wo-sie-ruhen.de .
8. ^ Walter F. Kalina: A courtly portrait of Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Napoleon III moves into the Army History Museum , in: Viribus Unitis. Annual report of the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum 2012 , Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-902551-37-5 , p. 28.
9. ^ Ingeborg Eismann: Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873). The Prince Painter of Europe , Petersberg 2007, p. 6; 10.
10. ^ Walter Kalina: A courtly portrait of Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Napoleon III moves into the Army History Museum , p. 40.
11. ^ Hyacinth Holland :  Graefle, Albert . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 49, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, p. 506 f.
12. ^ Franz-Xavier Winterhalter - Sold lots. In: Christie's , accessed October 8, 2018.
13. ^ Christian Gampert: Winterhalter exhibition in Freiburg. Radically embellished reality. In: Deutschlandfunk , January 16, 2016.
14. ^ Franz Xaver Winterhalter and Varvara Rimsky-Korsakov . In: Tatjana Kuschtewskaja : Secrets of beautiful women. Famous artists and their models . Grupello Verlag, Düsseldorf 2018, ISBN 978-3-89978-301-8 , pp. 53-60.
15. ^ ^{A b} Thomas Blisniewski: Review of the exhibition catalog by Ingeborg Eismann. In: Sehepunkte , 2009.
16. ↑ Kulturstiftung des Haus Hessen (ed.): Masterful portraits of the princely painters in the 19th century: "... very advantageous and wonderfully painted ..." Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805–1873), Franz von Lenbach (1836–1904), Heinrich von Angeli (1840–1925), Friedrich August von Kaulbach (1850–1920) . Imhof, Petersberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7319-0133-4 .
17. ↑ Expositions passées. In: Compiègne Castle , 2016, exhibition announcement , (French), (PDF; 198 kB).