Paulus Usteri
Paulus Usteri (born October 29, 1768 in Zurich ; † October 13, 1795 ibid) was a Swiss businessman , draftsman and satirist from the circle of Zurich amateurs.
Life
Paulus Usteri was born on October 29, 1768 as the son of Hans Martin Usteri (1738–1790), merchant, porcelain and textile manufacturer and founder of the Usteri, Ott, Escher & Cie. and his wife Anna Magdalena Scheuchzer. He was named (like his cousin Paulus Usteri ) after their grandfather Paulus Usteri (1709–1757), a co-founder of the Natural Research Society in Zurich . He was the younger brother of Johann Martin Usteri and a cousin of the physician and botanist Paul Usteri (1768-1831) of the same age . He is said to have been shy in childhood and therefore received private lessons. He made his first contact with artistic circles through the art collection and donation activities of his father, his older brother and his uncle Heinrich Usteri (1754–1802). At his father's request, he completed a commercial apprenticeship and joined the father's company. From 1775 he took drawing lessons from Johann Balthasar Bullinger , Johann Heinrich Meyer (1755-1829) and Johann Caspar Füssli and Valentin Sonnenschein . After his father's death, he went on study trips to Italy and France in 1790 .
In addition to his work in his father's company, Paulus Usteri mainly worked as a draftsman. His subjects were satirical depictions, historical scenes of violence and torture and fantastic scenes with witches, demons and ghosts, with which he moved outside the Swiss art taste. In 1792 he took part in the border defense in Basel as a militia sniper . Until 1795 he served twice as an officer with the Zurich border guards, but died in October of the red dysentery that he contracted on the return trip from Basel. A poem on the death of his brother by Johann Martin Usteri has been preserved. Paulus Usteri is attributed to the Zurich Dilettanten, an artist group mainly from the urban upper class between 1750 and 1830. He was a founding member of the Zurich Artist Society. His most popular drawing showed the devil with his grandmother showing each other their dolls: Jesuits, diplomats and Jacobins. The drawing was published repeatedly as a graphic with an update of the dolls until the mid-19th century.
literature
- Ludwig Meyer von Knonau : Neujahrsblatt: Der Zürcherischen Jugend from the city library , obituary for Paulus Usteri by Kaspar Hirzel with a portrait, 1829, 13 p.
- Facets of Romanticism, exhibition cat . Olten, 1999, 121 f.
- E. Bierende (Eds.) Et al .: Helvetische Merklinge , 2010, pp. 63–78.
- FO Pestalozzi: Usteri, Paulus . In: Carl Brun (Ed.): Swiss Artist Lexicon . Volume 3: S-Z. Huber & Co., Frauenfeld 1913, p. 356 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Web links
Paulus Usteri: Works on paper in the ZB Zurich
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Usteri, Paulus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Usteri, Paul |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss businessman and draftsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 29, 1768 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 13, 1795 |
| Place of death | Zurich |