Ludwig Des Coudres
Ludwig Des Coudres (born May 10, 1820 in Kassel , † December 23, 1878 in Karlsruhe ) was a German history and portrait painter . Ludwig "Louis" Des Coudres was a professor and teacher in the classics and painting and temporarily managing director of the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts. His son was the landscape painter Adolf Des Coudres .
Life
Ludwig Des Coudres was born on May 10, 1820 in Kassel. His father Johann Des Coudres was the third generation to run a trimmings factory on Obere Königstrasse. When Ludwig was two years old, his father died. The Kassel nature and art treasures as well as the family connections to the house of the Kassel academy director Ludwig Hummel stimulated Ludwig to draw and paint.
In 1836 he began studying architecture at the newly founded polytechnic school. The following year his mother allowed him to switch to the Academy of Fine Arts in Kassel. There was Ludwig Emil Grimm , brother of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, his teacher in drawing and composing. In order to free himself from the Nazarene spirit of the academy, Des Coudres left the academy after a short time with his friends Friedrich Gunkel (1819–1876) and Gustav Kaupert (1819–1897). The three rented a joint studio and trained with the masters of the Kassel picture gallery. In 1839 Des Coudres continued his studies at the Academy in Munich with Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld . After his return to Kassel the following year, he tried his hand at history pictures. In 1843 Des Coudres moved to Rome for two years, where he lived with Hessian compatriots ( August Bromeis , Johann Werner Henschel , Johann Martin von Rohden ). Dissatisfied and doubtful, he returned to Kassel in 1845, where he met the painter Johann Wilhelm Schirmer that same year .
Schirmer recommended that he study with Carl Ferdinand Sohn and Wilhelm von Schadow at the Düsseldorf Art Academy . There he turned to portrait painting. In addition to the two brothers Oswald and Andreas Achenbach , the Norwegian landscape painter Hans Fredrik Gude was one of his close friends. In Düsseldorf, Ludwig Des Coudres was one of the founders of the Malkasten artists' association and the first artist support association .
At Schirmer's suggestion, who was appointed first director of the newly founded Karlsruhe Art School by the Prince Regent and later Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden in 1854 , Ludwig Des Coudres went to the Karlsruhe Art School as a professor and teacher of the classics and painting in the summer of 1855 . Together with Schirmer he worked on setting up the new academy. With his didactic talent, the teaching profession in Karlsruhe became his real calling. His most famous students included u. a. the Baden painters Hans Thoma and Rudolf Epp .
In 1858 Ludwig Des Coudres married Elise von Reck, daughter of a colonel from Baden in Karlsruhe . The children Luise (1859-1915) and the later landscape painter Adolf Des Coudres (1862-1924) emerged from the marriage.
In Karlsruhe, Des Coudres devoted himself to portrait painting, but also to religious history paintings. His memorandum on the law on the protection of copyright in works of literature and art, published by the main board of the German Art Cooperative in Weimar in 1864, was of great importance . After Schirmer's death in 1863, Des Coudres took over the management of the Karlsruhe Academy of Fine Arts. However, a fall on the ice in 1864 led to severe infirmity, from which he did not recover until his death on December 23, 1878.
plant
The strictness of the form and the precision of the drawing are combined in the works of Ludwig Des Coudres with neat, elegant painting to produce a peculiarly restrained effect. Des Coudres was not a pioneer of the new color art, of the ingeniously picturesque. The hard school of the Munich Nazarenes always had an effect on his work. The decade in Düsseldorf gave him an understanding of the purely tasteful treatment of color. The art of his most important pupil, Hans Thoma , who evidently owes Des Coudres far more than previously assumed , proves that these apparently conflicting elements could be fruitfully combined .
In addition to Des Coudres' portrait of his Düsseldorf painter friend Oswald Achenbach from 1847, the portrait of his 18-year-old daughter Luise Des Coudres from 1877 must be regarded as a masterpiece. In the portrait there is no longer any sentimentality, but rather an increased experience of individuality. It impresses with a close natural-atmospheric relationship between the surrounding nature and the sitter. In addition to the fragmentary composition with the narrow, framing areas, this is achieved through the loose, free, impressionistic painting style. Here the inspiration of a Gustave Courbet , an Édouard Manet and the beginning plein-air painting manifests itself .
Works (selection)
- Portrait of Oswald Achenbach 1847
- Francesca da Rimini 1850
- Penitent Magdalena 1852
- Portrait of Johann Wilhelm Schirmer 1854
- Lamentation of Christ 1855
- Self-portrait 1855
- Adoration of the Shepherds 1857
- Entombment of Christ 1860
- Portrait of his mother Jeanette Riviére with son Adolf 1865
- Portrait of the daughter Luise 1877
literature
- General German Biography, Volume 47, 1903
- Baden Biographies, Part 3, 1881
- Jos. Aug. Beringer: Bad. Painting in the 19th century, 1913
- Friedrich von Boetticher : Painters Works of the 19th Century, Vol. 1, 1891
- Ludwig Des Coudres: Memorandum concerning the assessment of some parts of the draft of a law common to all federal states for the protection of copyright in works of literature and art against reprint, as well as against unauthorized reproduction and performance. Weimar 1864
- Düsseldorf artist album. Arnz & Comp. Articles in Vols. 1-4 (1851-1854).
- Ludwig Emil Grimm: memories from my life. Edited and supplemented by Adolf Stoll. 1913
- Adolf v. Oechelhaeusen: History of the Großh. Baden Academy of Fine Arts. Festschrift 1904
- Seubert: General Artist Lexicon, Vol. 1
- Thieme-Becker: Artist Lexicon, Vol. 9, 1913
- Museum guide Neue Galerie Kassel, August 1986 edition, authors Marianne Heinz and Angelika Burger
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Coudres, Ludwig des |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Coudres, Ludwig Des |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German history and portrait painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 10, 1820 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | kassel |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 23, 1878 |
| Place of death | Karlsruhe |