Johann Ulrich Fitzi

Self-portrait by Johann Ulrich Fitzi around 1850–1855

My house in Teufen 1834, Johann Ulrich Fitzi

Johann Ulrich Fitzi (born April 16, 1798 in Teufen , † January 15, 1855 in Speicher AR ) was a Swiss draftsman , painter , colourist , model engraver and drawing teacher. He was described as "the most famous draftsman and painter of the 19th century in Appenzell Ausserrhoden".

Life

Johann Ulrich Fitzi grew up in Niederteufen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, as the fourth child of a weaving family in modest circumstances. His talent for drawing showed at a young age when he was introduced to drawing and watercolors by the Sankt Gallen doctor and botanist Caspar Tobias Zollikofer .

Around 1818 Fitzi established himself as a freelance painter in Trogen and took part in an exhibition in St. Gallen for the first time in 1823. In 1824 he married Magdalena Zürcher; the couple had six children when they divorced in 1832 due to a serious mental illness in the wife. From 1838 Fitzi gave drawing lessons at the Trogen Cantonal School for four years .

His second wife, Anna Maria Lendenmann, died in 1840 shortly after the birth of their second child. The third marriage to Anna Barbara Nänny was separated after an unhappy and conflicted time. Johann Ulrich Fitzi died on January 15, 1855 in the Appenzell warehouse. The fact that a contemporary document of the present size and quality was created despite severe strokes of fate and the burden of his large family, points to Fitzi's persistence and devotion to his art.

plant

Fitzi created many of his drawings and pictures for well-known personalities in his canton, whose commissions were to illustrate historical or scientific research. At a young age, as an assistant to Caspar Tobias Zollikofer , Fitzi contributed hundreds of pictures of plants to his attempt at an alpine flora . A particularly important client of the young draftsman and watercolourist was the historian and philanthropist Johann Caspar Zellweger , for whom Fitzi created pen drawings of house types, landscapes, coats of arms and conquered flags. On behalf of the businessman and art collector Johann Conrad Honnerlag (1777–1838), a cousin of Zellweger, Fitzi created pen drawings of all Appenzell Ausserrhoden townscapes as well as several cartographic recordings of the Trogen town.

Finally, Fitzi accompanied the doctor and naturalist Johannes Georg Schläpfer on trips to Switzerland and Italy; In the process, numerous landscape pictures, views of castles, bridges, cities, etc. were created . Fitzi contributed 450 watercolored pen and pencil drawings of mammals , amphibians , birds, fish, anatomical specimens and many more to Schläpfer's lucubrations and scientific treatises . These works testify to the versatility of the painter, his excellent powers of observation and mastery of painting techniques, which resulted in a photographically exact reproduction. On his hikes through the Appenzellerland together with the businessman and researcher Johann Martin Schirmer, a son-in-law of Johann Caspar Zellweger, sketches were made for the well-known Alpstein pictures and panoramas .

Fitzi is known as the “photo reporter” of his time. Many of his subjects represent historically significant places and events in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in the 19th century. Over forty of his works served as templates for lithographs or etchings , the prints of which made the painter widely known.

During his time as a cantonal school teacher, Fitzi instructed students to work according to his instructions. With some works it is difficult to tell the difference between the original and the imitation. Fitzi's work also found copyists , for example in Johann-Jakob Kästli (1839–1922).

Fitzi drew his designs with a well-sharpened, soft pencil. For the final execution of scientific drawings, e.g. for pictures of plants and animals, he used fine, stiff brushes and a strong magnifying glass, and for other objects often the pen and ink. He developed a special process for coloring his landscape paintings by adding symbols to the sketch that represented certain colors or tonal values.

The professional world of his time counted the autodidacts Fitzi of folk art . His works - many of which were created before the introduction of photography - are admired for their exemplary accuracy. Because of their source value, they are suitable for historical comparative studies or as a basis for restorations . Certain works are considered noteworthy because they represent an early form of interdisciplinary collaboration between scientific draftsman and researcher.

Fitzi's work, which was as extensive as it was varied, repeatedly received public attention and recognition during the draftsman's and painter's lifetime and after its rediscovery in the 1930s. This was expressed in various exhibitions and publications as well as in the interest of the art market in his pictures.

literature

• Johannes Schläpfer: Johann Ulrich Fitzi 1798–1855. Niggli Verlag, Sulgen 1995, ISBN 3-721-20296-1 .
• Johannes Schläpfer: Johann Ulrich Fitzi: photo reporter of the 19th century. In: Appenzeller Calendar , Vol. 284, 2005, pp. 50–60. on-line
• Jakob Altherr: Johann Ulrich Fitzi 1798–1855. Draftsman and painter from Ausserrhoden. In: Das Land Appenzell , issue 10. Appenzeller Verlag, Herisau 1976, ISBN 978-3-85882-107-2 .
• Andreas Bänziger: Johann Ulrich Fitzi - a rediscovered genius. In: Tages-Anzeiger , May 26, 1989. Digitized version (PDF file)
• Heidi Eisenhut: Fitzi's dogs. In: Das Kulturblatt from Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Obacht Kultur , No. 18/2014/1, pages 46–48.
• Heinrich Seitter : Flora of the cantons of St. Gallen and both Appenzell. St. Gallen Natural Science Society, St. Gallen 1989.
• N / A : Johann Ulrich Fitzi, the Appenzell draftsman and painter (1798–1855). In: Appenzeller Calendar , Vol. 217 (1938), doi : 10.5169 / seals-375050 .

Web links

Commons : Johann Ulrich Fitzi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Thomas Fuchs: Fitzi, Johann Ulrich. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Fitzi, Johann Ulrich. In: Sikart
• Literature about and works by Johann Ulrich Fitzi in Swissbib
• Works by Johann Ulrich Fitzi on the website The Century of the Zellwegers

Individual evidence

1. ^ Walter Schläpfer: Appenzeller history , Volume II: Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Cantonal Chancellery Herisau, 1972.
2. ^ Johannes Schläpfer: Johann Ulrich Fitzi. 19th century photo reporter . In: Appenzeller calendar for the year 2005, Appenzeller Verlag, Herisau, issue 284 (2004), doi : 10.5169 / seals-377266 , pp. 50-60.
3. ↑ Peter Kürsteiner: Appenzell Ausserrhoden on graphic views, index of prints from the 17th to 19th centuries. Appenzeller Verlag, 1996, ISBN 385-8-82095-4 . (The work contains 49 works by Fitzi, which were used as templates for prints.)
4. ↑ Heidi Eisenhut: Das Appenzeller Fahnenbuch, an anthology with watercolor drawings on the "History of the Appenzell People." In: Librarium , Journal of the Swiss Bibliophile Society, Issue II / III, 2013.