Marquard Wocher

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Marquard Wocher, engraving by John Hall 1789 after Tiberius Wocher

Marquard Wocher (born September 7, 1760 (baptism date) in Mimmenhausen , † May 20, 1830 in Basel ) was a German-Swiss painter , etcher , aquatint engraver and creator of the Thun Panorama .

Origin and education

Marquard Wocher: The Saussures Mont Blanc Expedition of 1787, copperplate engraving with opaque color, 1790

Marquard Fidel Dominikus Wocher was born in Mimmenhausen in 1760 (even if he occasionally signed with Marquard Wocher von Seckingen ) as the son of the Constance court painter Tiberius Wocher (1728–1788), who came from the same place . His father, who moved to Bern until 1779 , gave him lessons in drawing, painting and engraving from 1771. A job at Johann Ludwig Aberli followed. In 1779 Aberli introduced his young colleague to the visiting Goethe . The satirical series Paisans et Paisannes , engraved between 1780 and 1782 for Johann Heinrich Bleuler, is the first comprehensive series of costumes in Switzerland and precedes Mechel's Costumes Suisses by one to two years.

In 1782 Marquard Wocher settled in Basel and initially worked for Christian von Mechel's art publisher . After starting his own business, Wocher devoted himself to miniature, gouache and oil painting. In addition to his own creations in all formats and various subjects, he copied Raphael, Holbein, Rubens and Rembrandt in oil and made a name for himself as a skilled restorer.

Political activities

In 1798, Wocher, a member of the Helvetic Society , designed the Helvetic State Seal and the letterheads of the Helvetic Republic . Wocher etched political caricatures and allegories , which he also published himself. in collaboration with Gilles-Louis Chrétien in Paris, he made preliminary drawings for physionotracene .

Wocher as an art dealer

Wocher worked as a collector and art dealer. He acquired works of art when convents and churches were dissolved in Alsace. In 1808 he bought several pictures of smaller format at the auction of the inventory of the Markgräflerhof . In 1819, Wocher brokered the sale of Hans Holbein's portrait of Junker Benedikt von Hertenstein to the Daniel Burckhardt-Wild collection in Basel (today in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum ).

The round panorama of Thun and architectural designs

In 1814, Wocher erected a 38.3 m × 7.5 m circular panorama on his property on Basel's Sternengasse, the Wocher Panorama named after him . A round view of the city of Thun with the lakeshore, surroundings and the Alpine chain was shown. The work is set up today as the Thun Panorama in Thun. With his panorama, Wocher was granted a great success with the visitors, albeit not a financial one: Visitors, including illustrious ones, came from afar to see the panorama, but the attempt to sell the panorama shortly before his death failed. In 1824, Wocher designed the first St. Jacob's monument in Basel, which was replaced in 1872 by the current monument by Ferdinand Schlöth .

End of life

Marquard Wocher died in Basel in 1830 in debt. Marquard Wocher was married to Anna Maria Fatio (1759–1828), the widow of the architect Johann Wilhelm Büchel, since 1800. The marriage was childless. The couple's estate, including the panorama of the Thun, were auctioned off at Gant after Wocher's death .

Works (selection)

  • Paisans and Paisannes . Published by Johann Heinrich Bleuler in Feuerthalen , 1780–1782.
  • Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling . Kupferstichkabinett Basel, watercolor, 1801.
  • Our father of an Underwaldner. Invented by J (ohann) Martin Usteri, executed and etched in ink style by Marquard Wocher. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 1805.
  • Thun panorama . 1809-1814. Today in the Schadau Park in Thun
  • Christmas transparency 1800. Moravian law firm in Basel

literature

  • H. Albert Steiger-Bay: Marquard Wocher and his panorama of Thun . In: Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History Volume 11, 1950, pp. 43–53 ( digitized version )
  • Catalog of the exhibition Tiberius Wocher and his son Marquard Wocher (1760-1830). Thunerhof, Sept 11th to Oct 16th 1955, Thun Art Collection, Thun 1955.

Web links

Commons : Marquard Wocher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History , Volume 11, 1950, p. 44.
  2. ↑ Notes on art a. Artist in Basel , Basel, 1841, p. 87.
  3. ^ Journal for Swiss Archeology and Art History Volume 47, 1990, p. 178 ( digitized version ).
  4. ^ Dominik M. Klinger: Ambrosius + Hans d. J. Holbein . HB Wilson, 1998, p. 88.
  5. ↑ Tobias Pfeifer-Helke: Grenzgang der Linie, About the drawing of the Alps and the consequences for landscape painting around 1800. In: Helvetische Merkbarenheiten: Perception and representation of Switzerland in the art and cultural history since the 18th century. (= New Bern writings on art, Vol. 10). Peter Lang, Bern 2010, p. 41.
  6. ↑ Johannes Stückelberger: Christmas as a light event. Christmas banners - once a popular medium . In: Church messenger of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of St. Gallen . tape 12, 2018 . St. Gallen 2018, p. 5 ( kirchenbote-sg.ch [PDF]).
personal data
SURNAME Wocher, Marquard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wocher, Marquard Fidel Dominikus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Swiss painter
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1760
PLACE OF BIRTH Mimmenhausen
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 1830
Place of death Basel