Johann Michael Kupfer

Johann Michael Kupfer (born June 4, 1859 in Schwabach ; † June 21, 1917 in Vienna ) was a German-Austrian painter and sculptor. Around 1900 he was one of the most important portrayals of Viennese folk life. Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Rainer visited his exhibitions . Kupfer was one of the founders of the Austrian Association of Artists , the founding meeting of which took place in the hall of the Sickenberg-Schlösschen in Nussdorf , his former studio. In addition, in 1882, Kupfer brought the “real, unadulterated, decent laundress balls ” back to life and arranged them for ten years. During this old Viennese carnival fun, the Schrammel brothers, Johann and Josef Schrammel , often played to dance.

Education and life

After his apprenticeship and work with the wood sculptor Goeß in Nuremberg, he attended the arts and crafts school in Nuremberg (today the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg ) under Georg Eberlein from 1876 . He then studied sculpture at the Royal Art Academy in Munich, where professors Max von Widnmann , Alexander Strähuber and Alois Gabl were his teachers. The busts “Hagen”, “Gunther”, “Siegried” and “Kriemhild” were created during the time in Munich.

In the fall semester of 1880/81 he studied sculpture with Edmund Hellmer at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna . The professor recognized copper's talent for painting and advised him to study painting. In 1880, together with Georg Eberlein from Nuremberg, Kupfer participated in the tender for the pilgrim fountain in front of the Aschaffenburg collegiate church . The execution of the models based on the drawings by Eberlein was created by Johann Michael Kupfer. The money he earned enabled him to study painting at the Vienna Academy. His teachers were Carl Wurzinger and Leopold Müller. In the winter semester of 1882/83 he studied painting at the Karlsruhe Art Academy under Ferdinand Keller .

At the Schrammeln in Nussdorf ( heliogravure ), 1886

In the autumn of 1883 he settled down as a freelance painter in Belvederegasse 3 in the 4th district of Vienna. In 1885/86 he worked for the weekly Wiener Specialitäten , edited by Julius Löwy (1851–1905) from November 1, 1885 . There he illustrated, among others, Hans Schliessmann (1852–1920), Theodor Zajaczkowski (1852–1908) and Ludwig Appelrath (1834– <1900) depictions of the Viennese life of Julius Löwy, Vinzenz Chiavacci (1847–1916) and Eduard Pötzl (1851 -1914). His famous genre picture of the popular singer Edmund Guschelbauer was also featured in this magazine. In 1886 he created his two important genre pictures Auf der Mensur and Bei den Schrammeln in Nussdorf . The latter work was auctioned in 2000 in Düsseldorf under the title Im Biergarten . In 1892, on the occasion of the international music and theater exhibition in the rotunda in the Vienna Prater, the portraits of the composer Franz von Suppè , the court actor Bernhard Baumeister and the professor Karl Udel (1844–1927) were on view.

In 1894, Kupfer moved into an apartment at Alleegasse 42 in the 4th district of Vienna. In 1895 he took part in a collective exhibition of the Austrian Art Association , where he exhibited 47 works in addition to Gabriel von Max and Hans Olde . In the same year he created his famous genre painting “Before the Naschmarkt”.

Around 1900 he moved into his new studio in two baroque halls in the Sickenberg-Schlösschen at Sickenberggasse 1 in the Nussdorf district of Vienna . There the pictures A Sunday in the Bockkeller as well as a Heurig presentation in a Nussdorf restaurant were created. This picture was shown at an exhibition in London in 1906. Works by Kupfer were also presented at an exhibition in Milan that same year. In 1908, Kupfer took part in a collective exhibition at the Austrian Art Association together with the secessionist Fritz Lach and the artist Müller. There his picture of a bacchante caused a stir.

In 1914 he had to leave his beloved Nussdorf studio. He moved to Vienna- Meidling (XII. District) at Singrienergasse 11.

There he died of a heart attack on the night of June 20-21, 1917. The artist was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery. The grave, a war grave (Group 56A, Row 2, No. 28), no longer exists in its historical form.

In 1919 his artistic estate, consisting of 73 works, was auctioned at Albert Kende in Vienna.

In 1973 the Kupfergasse in Vienna- Döbling (19th district) was named after him.

Works

• Hump ​​of the Vienna Naschmarkt 1895, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Tavern scene in the guest garden of the Bockkeller in Nussdorf 1907, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Confectioner 1916, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Chimney sweep 1916, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Third coffee house in Nobelprater, Hauptallee 1904, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• At the Heurigen (for exhibition in London) 1906, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• The municipal advisory board 1896, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Bernhard Baumeister 1892, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Dr. Karl Lueger 1904, Wien-Museum-Karlsplatz
• Castle actor Ludwig Martinelli 1894, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Folk singer production at Lanner on Rossauer Lände 1903, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Grape harvest in Nussdorf 1903, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Harpist Pauli in sweet Löchl 1898, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Portrait of the piano manufacturer Ludwig Bösendorfer 1915, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• Thursday Society of the Vienna Antiquities Association 1911, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz
• The last dance on the Sechsschimmelberg 1893, Vienna Museum Karlsplatz (is also exhibited there)
• Backyard of a Nussdorf Hauerhaus o. J., District Museum Vienna-Döbling (is on display in the Wine Museum)
• Heurigenszene o. J., District Museum Vienna-Hernals (is on display)
• Improviser Karl Schmitter 1894, Schwabach City Museum (can be seen in the Fleischmann collection)
• Self-portrait of the artist , Schwabach City Museum
• Heurigengarten Urban in Nußdorf , Schwabach City Museum
• Judenplatz in Vienna 1900, Schwabach City Museum
• Parlor girl , Schwabach City Museum
• Seminar caretaker Nikolaus Ammon , Schwabach City Museum
• Woman in Italian costume 1883, Schwabach City Museum
• Franz von Suppè 1892, Zeitbrücke Museum ( Gars am Kamp ).

Lately exhibitions about the artist

• GHV Schwabach in cooperation with the archive and city museum: Johann Michael Kupfer exhibition on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his death from July 25 to July 28, 1987 in the wedding hall of the Schwabach town hall
• Stadtmuseum and VHS Schwabach: Johann Michael Kupfer exhibition on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of his death from June 27th to July 11th in the former museum depot (now Stadtmuseum), Ansbacher Straße.
• VHS Schwabach and GHV Schwabach: Viennese specialties presented by Johann Michael Kupfer, exhibition on the occasion of the artist's 150th birthday in the foyer of the Schwabach City Library from July 25 to September 5, 2009.

literature

• August Martinez: Viennese studios. Volume V, Vienna 1909, pp. 29–41 (with the artist's biography).
• Johann Michael Kupfer . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 22 : Krügner – Leitch . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1928, p. 126-127 .
• Ulrich Distler: Johann Michael Kupfer - a Bavarian painter in Nussdorf. In: Döblinger Museum Blätter. Vol. 30, No. 110/111, May 1993, pp. 7-15.
• Ulrich Distler: Johann Michael Kupfer - a Franconian artist in Vienna. (PDF; 467 kB) In: Franconia. Journal for Franconian regional studies and culture. Würzburg, Volume 45, 1993, Issue 3, March 1993, pp. 80-82.
• Ulrich Distler (Ed.): Johann Michael Kupfer, painter and sculptor (1859–1917) - autobiographical, biographical and autograph documents. Schwabach 2009 (author's own publication)
• Ulrich Distler: Viennese specialties drawn by JM Kupfer (1859–1917). Schwabach 2009 (author's own publication)
• Schöny:  Copper Johann Michael. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 4, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1969, p. 360 f. (Direct links on p. 360 , p. 361 ).

Remarks

1. ↑ Based on this portrait, which was exhibited at the Vienna Music and Theater Exhibition in 1892 , Richard Tautenhayn designed the bust Suppès, which is on his tomb in the Vienna Central Cemetery ; see:
   Vienna letter. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , August 17, 1896, p. 4 (online at ANNO ). and
   features. A soup museum. In:  Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Democratic Organ , September 20, 1897, pp. 1-2 (online at ANNO ).