Josef von Hempel

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Sebastian Josef Ritter and Edler von Hempel (born February 9, 1800 in Vienna ; † September 2, 1871 in Tokod near Gran ) was an Austrian painter from the group of the Nazarenes and a writer.

Self-Portrait (1856)

Life

Youth and Italy trip

Josef von Hempel came from a wealthy aristocratic family. He was the son of Johann Ludwig Josef (1750–1811) and Katharina von Hempel, born. Gall (in) (1779-1846).

As part of his upbringing, Josef von Hempel visited the imperial picture gallery in Belvedere Palace several times , developing a keen interest in art and painting. After some resistance from his mother, he was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in November 1815 . The fact that classicism was taught there as the predominant conception of art met with resistance from many students. Hempel painted his first oil painting, a representation of Holy Communion, when he was around 20 years old. After its completion it adorned the main altar of the Capuchin Church in Wiener Neustadt.

Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well (1823)

In the spring of 1821 Hempel began a trip to Rome, where he visited Florence as a stopover. In Rome he soon met the other young artists who were staying there, and made friends with Leopold Kupelwieser and Joseph Tunner . The exchange of ideas with these artists increased Hempel's aversion to the academic conception of art. Hempel also came into contact with Friedrich Overbeck and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . His main occupation was copying paintings and drawing from nature. In June 1825 he returned to Vienna via Florence and Nuremberg .

Vienna, Horn, Bozen and Graz

In Vienna Hempel continued his artistic activity and began philosophical studies with Friedrich Schlegel , he also attended lectures on botany. In 1827 he converted to Catholicism. Two years later he married Anna Maria Henriette Friedenheim (1808–1865), with whom he had a total of ten children. In 1832 he acquired the dominions of Kattau and Missingdorf near Horn in Lower Austria. In addition to his duties as a landlord, he created a number of altar paintings for surrounding parish churches, which he had restored at his own expense. Presumably because he lacked the intellectual stimuli of Vienna, he sold his two goods again in 1839 and returned to the capital.

Mary with the Christ Child (1855)

In Vienna Hempel again attended lectures on botany, whereupon he painted numerous flower watercolors. At first he enthusiastically joined the revolutionary movement of 1848 and became a member of the National Guard , but as a member of the monarchy he was naturally averse to radical changes. In the same year he left the city and settled with his family in Klagenfurt . There he set up his own drawing school in the building of the municipal lyceum, in which he taught himself. In 1850, however, he moved to Bolzano because the damp and cold climate did not benefit his ailing wife. Here, too, a series of pictures with almost exclusively religious themes was created. In order to enable the sons to study, the family moved to Graz, where they stayed for four years.

Late years: Croatia and Graz

In 1859 Hempel acquired the Vrbovec and Rakovec estates in Croatia. The agricultural land there meant a good investment, but because of the unfamiliar environment and the unknown language, the family was completely isolated. The property was sold as early as 1863 and moved back to Graz, where Anna von Hempel died two years later. After this event Josef von Hempel no longer painted oil paintings, but concentrated on botanical drawings of wild plants. Because of his increasing age and his deteriorating eyesight, he could soon no longer devote himself to painting and turned to poetry. He died while visiting his daughter Karoline Veith.

plant

About 100 oil paintings by Hempel with predominantly religious motifs as well as over 50 watercolors, drawings and lithographs have survived.

Only a few of Hempel's works hang in museums. For lack of financial worries, probably also because of his deep religiousness, he donated many to churches and monasteries. Other pictures, especially his family portraits, are still in family ownership.

Hempel also wrote a comedy with the title Graf Biegler and the dramas Rafael and The Oath.

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef von Hempel  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hempel, Josef von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hempel, Sebastian Josef Ritter and Edler von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian painter (group of the Nazarenes) and writer
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 1871
Place of death Tokod at Gran