Thank God Johann Gutekunst

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Self-portrait (excerpt from the transition over the St. Bernhard while driving snow )

Gottlob Johann Georg Adam Gutekunst (born January 25, 1801 in Tübingen , † November 11, 1858 in Stuttgart ) was a painter and photographer from Württemberg.

Life

painter

Crossing over the St. Bernhard in the snowdrift (oil on linen, 1824)
Queen Pauline of Württemberg (lithograph, ca.1826)
Johann Georg Rupp (oil on canvas, 1845)
Business advertisement about the opening of a joint studio "Gutekunst und Dihm", Swabian Chronicle March 7, 1849
Gutekunst und Dihm: Friedrich Jakob Seitz [Carl Dihm's son-in-law] (calotype, approx. 1849)
Clara Hoffmann b. Plank (salt paper print, after 1850)
Gustav L. Hoffmann (salt paper print, after 1850)

Gottlob Johann Gutekunst essentially taught himself to paint as an autodidact. In his youth he moved to Stuttgart, where he also received lessons from Johann Heinrich Dannecker . He had good relations with the court of King Wilhelm I. At the age of 20, he was commissioned with portraits. His earliest known painting is the portrait of Reutlingen's mayor Johann Georg Knapp from 1822. The king granted him a travel grant so that he could perfect his skills. So Gutekunst undertook an educational trip to Italy from 1824 to 1826, the climax of which was a one-year stay in Rome . In Rome he belonged to the circle of painters Anton Fuchs , Joseph Anton von Gegenbaur and the sculptors Theodor Wagner and Bertel Thorvaldsen . During this time he turned to genre and history painting . Together with Gegenbaur and Fuchs, he returned to Stuttgart in 1826. Shortly after his return, he created his portrait of Queen Pauline , which was reproduced as a lithograph . In the same year, together with Joseph Anton von Gegenbaur and Johann Friedrich Dieterich, he was commissioned to decorate the interior of the newly built Rosenstein Castle with frescoes. This should remain his greatest work in terms of scope and quality. After that he painted portraits again, alternating with genre paintings. He was listed among the genre painters in 1837. The low commercial efficiency of this branch forced him to devote himself entirely to the portrait, often a miniature portrait. His clients were the dignitaries and middle-class citizens of the surrounding country towns, such as Reutlingen, where the requirements were lower, and not the Stuttgart public.

Photographer and painter

The increasing popularity of photographic portraits created competition for this technique, which forced him to deal with it. The transition from painting to photography was fluid for him. The first phase of the experience with photography ended with the decision to start a collaboration with the financially troubled pastry chef and experienced amateur daguerreotypist Carl Dihm . It is quite possible that Gutekunst helped Dihm out financially, but was given the opportunity to quickly learn the technique of daguerreotype and paper photography. On March 7, 1849, the two of them opened a joint studio called “Gutekunst & Dihm, Establishment for the Production of Photographs”, which offered portraits using both the daguerreotype and the calotype process. The partnership lasted only until June 1850; perhaps Dihm's continued financial troubles were the reason for the short duration of the relationship. Gutekunst then opened his own studio at Paulinenstrasse 14. He worked there as a painter and photographer until his relatively early death at the age of 57. During this time he also offered photos in the new wet collodion process . He often colored the photos. Thanks to his training as a painter, he also had a certain importance in the field of portrait photography. Several recordings have been preserved from this period. However, he continued to paint and preferred watercolor painting.

criticism

The painting of Gutekunst is characterized on the one hand by the Biedermeier gracefulness of the forms, on the other hand by the simple objectivity. However, he was rarely able to combine the Biedermeier elements with dignity as skillfully as the forehead did. Despite the simple adherence to the object, he could not achieve the conscious consistency of Schnizer and Morff . In genre pictures he shows “a very lively inventiveness”, but his portraits are often “poor in pictorial ideas and artistic creativity”. His portraits are mostly simple belt pieces. They “are often similar and often unfree, petty-bourgeois stiff, [...] the women's faces are often buxom and empty. Occasional works are then surprisingly fresh and strong, if not very independent, at least very skillful. ”One of his most successful portraits is that of the building officer Johann Georg Rupp.

Well-known works (selection)

painting

photography

  • 1849 Gutekunst & Dihm: Friedrich Jakob Seitz [architect, son-in-law of C. Dihm] (calotype under passepartout; image: 106 × 79 mm, complete: 132 × 118 mm)
  • after 1850 Clara Hoffmann b. Plank ( colored salt paper print , 187 × 148 mm, with frame: 345 × 294 mm)
  • after 1850 Gustav L. Hoffmann (colored salt paper print, 186 × 145 mm, with frame: 345 × 294 mm)
  • before 1856 Ludwig Ernst Konstantin Freiherr von Herda zu Brandenburg [President of the Bergrats] (colored salt paper print, 185 × 133 mm, with frame: 287 × 230 mm)
  • c. 1856 Unknown lady (colored salt paper print, 135 × 186 mm; Agfa-Foto-Historama, now integrated in the art and museum library of the city of Cologne )
  • approx. 1857 Karl von Gärttner [Minister of Finance] (colored salt paper print, 187 × 135 mm, with frame: 280 × 226 mm; Stuttgart City Archives )
  • 1857 Eduard von Gärttner [son of Karl von Gärttner, later State Councilor] (colored salt paper print, 188 × 137 mm, with frame: 430 × 306 mm; Stuttgart City Archives)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Müller: The artists of all times ...
  2. ↑ a b c Joachim W. Siener: Die Photography and Stuttgart ..., p. 98
  3. ↑ Werner Fleischhauer: Das Bildnis in Württemberg ... , p. 177
  4. ↑ Joachim W. Siener: Die Photography and Stuttgart ..., p. 91.
  5. ↑ Werner Fleischhauer: Das Bildnis in Württemberg ... , p. 176
  6. ↑ Werner Fleischhauer: Das Bildnis in Württemberg ... , S. 176/7

bibliography

  • Joachim W. Siener: The photography and Stuttgart 1839-1900. From the masked sleigh ride to the court photographer , Cantz edition: Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-89322-150-6
  • Werner Fleischhauer : The portrait in Württemberg 1760-1860. History, artists and culture , Metzler: Stuttgart 1939
  • Friedrich Müller: The artists of all times and peoples . Volume 2, 1860, p. 325

Web links

Commons : Gottlob Johann Gutekunst  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Good art, thank God Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gutekunst, Gottlob Johann Georg Adam (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Württemberg painter and photographer
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Tübingen
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1858
Place of death Stuttgart