Jacob Hilsdorf

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Jean Baptist Hilsdorf

Jacob Hilsdorf (born June 10, 1872 in Bingen , † January 11, 1916 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a German photographer .

Life

Jacob Hilsdorf, like his brother Theodor Hilsdorf, learned the craft of photography from his father Johann Baptist Hilsdorf in Bingen am Rhein and then worked in Leipzig in the studio of the famous photographer Nicola Perscheid . In Leipzig he met Elisabeth Gausche, whom he married in Bad Kreuznach in 1897 . He took over his father's studio on Kapuzinerstraße in Bingen and hired his brother Hans Hilsdorf, who later also worked as a photographer, as an assistant.

Jacob Hilsdorf came into contact with well-known personalities of the time at the turn of the century, such as the members of the George Circle. Photographs by the painter Melchior Lechter made him internationally known after 1903, he created portraits of personalities of the nobility and politics, but also of painters, musicians and writers. In 1912, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig awarded him the title of "Grand Ducal Hessian Councilor" for his services.

Private problems weighed on Jacob Hilsdorf. The marriage with Elisabeth Gausche was divorced in 1909 and the marriage with Ellen Hasenclever in 1911 was also unhappy. From 1915 onwards, Jacob Hilsdorf showed signs of a mental illness , and on January 11, 1916 he died of suicide .

Like his father and brother Theodor, Jacob Hilsdorf was a member of the Masonic lodge at the Temple of Friendship in Bingen.

plant

Hilsdorf's photographs stand outside the art movements of his time. They neither imitate an impressionistic surface structure nor a hard expressionistic contour. Hilsdorf can be called an Art Nouveau and salon photographer who has certainly adapted to the upper class, but who was highly independent and progressive in his work. The Landesmuseum Koblenz offers an overview of his life's work .

literature

  • Berthold Roland (Ed.): Nicola Perscheid, Theodor and Jacob Hilsdorf, August Sander . The Rhineland-Palatinate contribution to the history of photography. Exhibition catalog, Landesmuseum Mainz, Mainz 1989.
  • Philipp Freytag: Hilsdorf, Jacob . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 73, de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-023178-6 , p. 248.

Web links

Commons : Jacob Hilsdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hilsdorf, Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1872
PLACE OF BIRTH Bingen
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1916
Place of death Frankfurt am Main