Heinrich Sebastian Hüsgen

Heinrich Sebastian Hüsgen, around 1775

Heinrich Sebastian Hüsgen , also Henrich Sebastian Hüsgen (* November 1745 in Frankfurt am Main ; † August 8, 1807 ibid) was an art collector and pioneer of art history in Frankfurt am Main.

Life

Hüsgen was born in November 1745 as the son of the Brandenburg-Ansbach and Anhalt-Köthian court councilor Wilhelm Friedrich Hüsgen and his wife, Sara Barbara Stern from Frankfurt . He himself signed with the name Henrich Sebastian Hüsgen , whereas his first name was later usually given as Heinrich . Since the father, a lawyer , did not acquire citizenship throughout his life , the exact date of his son's birth is obscure, only the baptism on November 30th of that year is guaranteed in writing. In addition to his main occupation, in which, according to contemporaries, he led some important lawsuits, the father was above all a friend of art, mathematics and astronomy , who seldom left the house due to his private studies.

Little is known from the youth of his only child, except that he received an upbringing from private tutors in keeping with his status. Heinrich Sebastian completed his writing and drawing lessons together with the young Johann Wolfgang Goethe , who characterized him as follows: “Rubbish, not raw, but straightforward. With no particular inclination to teach himself, he preferred to avoid the presence of his father by being able to receive everything he wanted from his mother. "

After completing his school education, Hüsgen was sent to Switzerland by his father to train as a trader . He was so unsuccessful that he soon returned to his parents' house. It remains unclear whether the reasons are to be found in a lack of interest, talent or simply the fact that, as contemporaries reported, Hüsgen was for a long time controlled by his father.

As with his father, he developed a keen interest in art in the 1770s, which grew even stronger on his travels. They took him to Mannheim , Düsseldorf , Holland , Brabant , Munich and Vienna, among others . From then on, Heinrich Sebastian devoted himself to collecting art objects, initially drawing on his father's fortune, and studying art history as a private individual. In 1782 he acquired citizenship, and in the petition that has been handed down to the council he reaffirmed his "preoccupation with the studio of art and antiquities" .

Hüsgen in the painting cabinet of Johann Noë Gogel, 1776

The civil rights and the status of his father gave Hüsgen access to the upper class of the imperial city. In addition to Goethe, he was among other things, Sophie von La Roche , the editor Johann Heinrich Merck , Frankfurt's city historian Johann Georg Battonn closely and the extensive correspondence according to Johann Isaac of Gerning friends. Through the mediation of the well-traveled lawyer, diplomat , writer and collector, he was also able to acquire the title of Hessian-Homburg court counselor, which ensured him a livelihood without being financially dependent on his parents. Hüsgen's self-published works on Frankfurt art history from 1776 prove that he maintained more or less active contact with practically every citizen of the city interested in art. He also sold graphic sheets together with Johann Gottlieb Prestel , albeit with little success .

The focus of his passion for collecting was the works of Albrecht Dürer . Over the years, Hüsgen was able to build up one of the most important collections of its time. Around one third of it is still in the possession of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna , the rest is scattered. In 1798 he acquired a lock of hair, which was almost ritually venerated and cut on Dürer's deathbed, from the possession of the Frankfurt patrician family von Holzhausen , which is now also in Vienna.

Another celebrity in his collection was an astronomical clock that his father owned, which he had built in 1746 according to his own calculations. It is also described in poetry and truth by Goethe, who still experienced it in Hüsgen's parents' house, as "at least a miraculous clock for that time" . Today it can be seen in the Goethe House as the " Hüsgen clock " and, in addition to compensating for leap years, has displays for the time and date, the position of the sun and the moon, the signs of the zodiac and the lengths of day and night.

Despite his large circle of friends and acquaintances, perhaps of his own choosing, as he emphasized in his petition for citizenship, Hüsgen remained single until his death on August 8, 1807. His extensive collection, consisting of 88 paintings, 117 hand drawings, 246 small sculptures , over 2000 prints and countless other items , was auctioned off by a niece on May 9, 1808 at the request of a will on May 9, 1808 . Even without Dürer's works that were sold privately, it brought in 4,805 guilders. His grave in the Peterskirchhof has been preserved.

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Hüsgen can be regarded as the father of art history in Frankfurt am Main. Although his works are largely obsolete today due to recent research, he was the first to put down an extensive register of the artists who have been active in Frankfurt since the Middle Ages . The initially sparse reception of his achievements may have been due to the fact that he has never been shown to have attended an academy, but was purely self-taught . Since he is in his collection of artist monographs, which is still important today, but also craftsmen such as B. Glockengießer , it can hardly be denied that his activity as an author represented much more than just a hobby or a by-product of his passion for collecting, but rather a serious interest in a scientific systematization.

In addition to the fact that many of the sources on which he relied are lost today, the value of his work also lies in the description of the art collections as well as many sacred and public buildings in the city in the 18th century. His appreciation for the art of the Middle Ages, a trait that was anything but self-evident at the time, was particularly evident in the description of the old Frankfurt churches.

The historically significant works of Hüsgen are:

• Treacherous letters from history and art (1776 and addendum 1783), ( digitized ).
• Reasonable index of all copper and iron engravings, made by the skilled hand of Albrecht Dürer himself [...] (1778), ( digitized version )
• Messages from Franckfurt artists and art things (1780), ( digitalized ).
• Artistisches Magazin (1790, heavily revised second edition of the "Nachrichten"), ( digitized ).
• Faithful guide to Frankfurt am Main and its areas for locals and foreigners (1802), ( digitized ).

Other independent works:

• Detailed information about the great outpouring of the Maynstrom in and near the imperial city of Frankfurt in 1784 (1785)
• Freymüthiger catalog of 36 beautiful sheets in 8vo and 4to, which Mr. Johann Gottlieb Prestel masterfully put in drawing in copper, of which only 160 impressions were made and the plates were spoiled, are now not increased, and at the end of the day signed together for 9 Ducats can only be had and can be bought (1785)

Countless smaller writings by Hüsgen can be found in contemporary compilations on art and art history.

literature

• Philipp Friedrich Gwinner : Art and Artists in Frankfurt am Main from the thirteenth century to the opening of the Städel'schen Kunstinstitut. Publisher by Joseph Baer, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1862, pp. 535-540 ( digitized version ).
• Gerhard Kölsch : Henrich Sebastian Hüsgen. Art connoisseur and art collector of the Goethe era. Free German Hochstift, Frankfurt am Main 2005 ( digitized version ).
• Gerhard Kölsch: Henrich Sebastian Hüsgen. A Frankfurt art connoisseur of the Goethe era as an art collector . In: Yearbook of the Free German Hochstift 2007, pp. 1–54.