Johann Oswald Harms

Johann Oswald Harms (christened the 30th April 1643 in Hamburg , † 1708 in Braunschweig ) was a German painter, etcher and the first major German stage designer of the Baroque .

Life

He began his training at Ellerbrock in Hamburg. From 1665 to 1669 a journey followed by Rome , where he of Salvator Rosa in the landscape painting was taught and the stage paintings Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Galli da Bibiena studied. In 1669 he stayed in Venice . In the spring of 1673 on his return trip in Nuremberg he stopped by Johann Franciscus (Franz) Ermels and Willem van Bemmel, possibly also taking part in the art academy there. In 1675 he took up a position at the court in Zeitz before moving to the Dresden court as a set designer in 1677 . There he created the frescoes of the palace facade and designed scenes.

Activity in the Duchy of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel

An activity that began in Thuringia in 1682 was followed by a move to the Wolfenbütteler Hof of the art-loving Duke Anton Ulrich in 1686 , where he was responsible for decorating the duchy as a machine master, cameraman and painter . In 1688 he created the decorations for the operas “Medea in Athens” by Giovanni Antonio Gianettini (1686–1702) and “Hercules in Thebes”, which were performed on the occasion of the reopening of the Wolfenbüttel Opera House. For the opera "Cleopatra" by on February 4, 1690 John Sigismund Kusser opened Opera House on Brunswick Hagenmarkt Harms produced the 1799 destroyed gable fresco with the portrait Herzog Anton Ulrich. His stage sets, which were created until 1698, contributed to the great international reputation of the Braunschweig Opera.

Work in Hamburg and Kassel

Harms worked from 1696 to 1701 for the Hamburg Opera on Gänsemarkt , founded in 1676, but kept his residence in Braunschweig. From 1698 he was also active in Kassel , where he created frescoes for the Landgraves' Kunsthaus.

His son Anton Friedrich Harms (1695–1745) was also active as a painter and set designer.

Works (selection)

Graphic from tape No. 15 of the Fürstlich Waldeckschen Hofbibliothek Arolsen

• Collection of etchings from Roman ruins ( Alcune invenzione di Rovine et Architetture disegnate e fatte con aqua forte da GOH ), 1673
• Paintings in the castle church of Neu-Augustusburg Castle in Weißenfels , 1682 to 1686
• Ceiling frescoes in Brüggen Castle on a leash
• Painting of the mansion of the main church St. Jacobi in Hamburg

The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum owns the artistic estate consisting of etchings and draft scenes.

literature

• Norman-Mathias Pingel: Harms, Johann Oswald. In: Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon. Published on behalf of the city of Braunschweig by Luitgard Camerer, Manfred RW Garzmann and Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf with the special assistance of Norman-Mathias Pingel. Supplementary volume. Braunschweig 1996, ISBN 3-926701-30-7 , p. 61.
• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries. Hannover 1996, pp. 301-302.
• Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (Hrsg.): Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia. Braunschweig 2000, pp. 640-642.
• Ferdinand Spehr :  Harms, Johann Oswald . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 10, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1879, p. 611.
• Johann Schlick:  Harms, Johann Oswald. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1966, ISBN 3-428-00188-5 , pp. 684 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Dorothea Schröder: Memories of Roman Gardens. To some of the sets by Johann Oswald Harms . In: Die Gartenkunst 2 (2/1990), pp. 238–247.

Web links

Commons : Johann Oswald Harms  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Johann Oswald Harms in the catalog of the German National Library