Johann Jakob Hofmann (draftsman)
Johann Jakob Hofmann (* 1730 in Wädenswil , † 1772 in Zurich ) was a Swiss painter , draftsman and engraver .
He was born in Wädenswil in 1730 as the son of a stoner family and worked as an oven painter and craftsman from 1748 to 1766. Today there are still twenty tiled stoves that are assigned to him. After 1766 he only worked as a draftsman and produced panoramas and brochures. Hofmann died in 1772.
He mainly created landscape vedutas and panoramas. Despite technical weaknesses, artistic value can be attributed to his work, for example due to the originality of the perspective. Far more important, however, is the documentary value, especially his views of the city of Zurich and the towns on Lake Zurich . It is one of the most comprehensive documentaries in the region in the 18th century. It comprises 61 large-format wash ink drawings. Of these, 21 show the city of Zurich, the remaining 40 the villages, country estates and banks around Lake Zurich.
In 2013, the Zurich Central Library acquired a previously unknown panorama of the lower Lake Zurich basin from a Zurich antiquarian bookshop. The slightly gray colored pen drawing is neither dated nor signed. Due to the cityscape, it must have been made between 1732 and 1763. Stylistic parallels to a “Lake Zurich album” in the holdings of the ZB's graphic collection suggest that it was also by Hofmann.
Works (selection)
- Prospect von Statt and Zürich See , 1771–1772
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Ziegerl Culture Area Lake Zurich, page 78
- ↑ Thomas Germann in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, January 4, 2014
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hofmann, Johann Jakob |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss painter, draftsman and engraver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1730 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waedenswil |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1772 |
| Place of death | Zurich |