Heinrich Carl Brandt

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Self portrait

Heinrich Carl Brandt or Heinrich Carl Brand (born November 11, 1724 in Vienna , † May 6, 1787 in Munich ) was an Austrian - German court painter . He mainly portrayed the family of the Archbishop of Mainz and Elector Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein and the Wittelsbachers at the court of Elector Karl Theodor in Mannheim and Munich.

Origin and family

There is no reliable information about Brandt's origin. He was possibly the son of the landscape painter Christian Hilfgott Brand (1695–1756) and thus half-brother of the painter Johann Christian Brand (1722–1795) and the brother of the painter Friedrich August Brand (1735–1806).

Life

Heinrich Carl Brandt studied from 1739 to 1745 with Jacob van Schuppen at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , according to his report on February 12, 1745 he had not only attended this academy there for several years, but also had good dexterity and ability and because of this acquired craftsmanship in the Mahlerey to his special praise ”. He then learned portrait painting in the master studio of Martin van Meytens , who was court painter at the court of Maria Theresa at the time.

In 1748 Brandt wanted to continue his studies in Paris . On the way there he stopped in Frankfurt , where he made a portrait of the Austrian diplomat Johann Karl Philipp Graf Cobenzl . Cobenzl then recommended Brandt to the Archbishop of Mainz and Elector Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein , who also had himself portrayed and in the following year appointed Brandt as the Electoral Mainz cabinet portrait painter with a salary of 600 florins including table and lodging at court . Despite this position in Mainz, Brandt was allowed to travel to Paris in 1750, where, for example, he portrayed the Austrian ambassador Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg .

In 1752 he returned to the court of Mainz, where he painted various family portraits on behalf of the Elector von Ostein until 1760 and at the same time accepted apprentices for training, albeit independently of the electoral painting and sculpture academy .

In 1761 Brandt visited Mannheim for the first time on behalf of the Elector of Mainz to order stamps from the local mint master Anton Schäffer . On this occasion he visited the electoral galleries in Mannheim Palace , where he was so impressed by the paintings and sculptures on display that he decided to move to Mannheim to study. After the death of Mainz Elector Ostein in 1763, Brandt returned to Mainz to portray his successor Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim on the occasion of the coronation of the new King Joseph II in Frankfurt.

Drawing Academy Mannheim, around 1920

He then went back to Mannheim, where he worked from 1764 as a cabinet portrait painter for Elector Karl Theodor . When in 1769 Karl Theodor converted the Mannheim drawing academy founded by Verschaffelt into a state institute, Brandt became the academy's first professor and secretary. The elector also commissioned him to create a concept for managing the academy. This makes it clear that Brandt's ideas deviated from Verschaffelt's ideas and the order of the Elector: Karl Theodor wanted to attract mainly well-known artists to Mannheim through the academy. For Brandt, on the other hand, the drawing school, where he wanted to train young artists, was in the foreground.

Brandt married and became a father during his time in Mannheim. However, details about his wife and legitimate offspring are not known.

Although Brandt received a fixed salary as a court painter and was additionally rewarded for each portrait he painted, from the mid-1770s he got more and more financial problems. The reasons for this were on the one hand his lavish lifestyle - he had several extramarital relationships and offspring, which also led to his wife leaving him. On the other hand, his main client, Elector Karl Theodor, moved with his court to Munich in 1778, which worsened his order situation. Three years later, Brandt also moved to Munich, but his economic situation did not improve. Because of the higher cost of living, his debts continued to rise, he developed drinking problems and was temporarily unable to draw.

In 1787, the 62-year-old Brandt had a relationship with Gabriele Corva, the young daughter of the electoral castle keeper Franz Corva, whose sister Antonia was the valet of the widowed Maria Anna von Pfalz-Sulzbach (1722–1790). Brandt was a family friend, his relationship with his daughter was accused of being immoral and led to criticism of his entire lifestyle in Munich. At the beginning of May 1787, the pressure on Brandt increased again as the repayment of a bill of exchange was due on May 9th and another loan was canceled on May 2nd. On May 3, 1787 Brandt committed suicide by poison. On the letter of termination of the loan he noted: " This letter is the cause of my death ".

Works

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Carl Brandt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl Heinrich Brandt. In: persondaten.org. Retrieved December 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Hans-Michael Körner (Ed.): Large Bavarian Biographical Encyclopedia . Walter de Gruyter, 2012, p. 216 ( google.de ).
  3. ^ Johann Georg Meusel : Museum for artists and for art lovers . 1 piece. Munich 1787, p. 100 ( MDZ ).
  4. ^ Johann Rudolf Füssli: General Artist Lexicon . Second part, which contains the continuation and addition of the first. First section: A – C. Orell, Füßli, Zurich 1809, p. 114 ( MDZ ).
  5. ↑ Georg Kaspar Nagler : New general artist Lexicon or messages from the life and works of painters, sculptors, architects, engravers, die cutter, lithographer, illustrator, Medals and Ivory, etc . tape 2 : Borner - Cleoetas . EA Fleischmann, Munich 1835, p. 106 ( books.google.com [accessed December 20, 2019]).
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Joseph August Beringer: Der kurfürstl. Cabinet portrait painter Heinrich Karl Brandt . In: Mannheimer Altertumsverein (Ed.): Mannheimer Geschichtsblätter . tape 11-12 , 1902, pp. 220-227, 244-251 ( archive.org ).
  7. ^ His electoral examination of the Palatinate, etc. Court and state calendar for the year 1780 . Munich 1780 ( MDZ ).

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the literature one usually finds the 6th, sometimes also the 7th May 1787 as the date of death. Brandt's biographer Beringer deviates from this, it says: "On May 3rd at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the once so glorious artist put an end to his life with poison."
personal data
SURNAME Brandt, Heinrich Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brandt, Heinrich Karl; Brand, Heinrich Carl; Brand, Heinrich Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-German court painter
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1724
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 1787
Place of death Munich