Wilhelm Walther (artist)
Adolf Wilhelm Walther (born October 18, 1826 in Cämmerswalde , Erzgebirge, † May 7, 1913 in Dresden ) was a German artist who also taught as a professor at the Dresden Art Academy . His best known work is the prince procession in Dresden; he later also directed its redesign.
Life
He was born as the fourth child and only son of the landlord and hunter Friedrich Wilhelm Walther in the Ore Mountains of Cämmerswalde. In the 1830s the family moved to Neuhausen , where the father opened a lottery shop. Even when he was still a student, the teachers noticed his drawing skills. Wilhelm Walther refined his skills through drawing lessons with the drawing teacher Wanke in the neighboring village of Seiffen .
Wilhelm Walther worked as a can painter in the serpentine stone town of Zöblitz , 20 kilometers from Neuhausen, in 1842/43 . In 1843 he began studying at the Dresden Art Academy with Professors Julius Hübner , Gottfried Semper , Carl Gottlieb Peschel and others. Under Semper's guidance, he became familiar with the 14th century technique of Italian sgraffito , which he later used (1863) to design the facade of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Zurich Polytechnic) and also in the Fürstenzug.
In 1855, the year he began his freelance work, he married Maria Emilie Pauline Junker. The three children Johannes, Georg and Katharina were born in 1855, 1857 and 1859. From 1864 to 1876 he was occupied with the work that made him famous around the world, the Dresden Fürstenzug . At the mediation of his teacher Julius Hübner, he was commissioned to do this. On the sgraffito at Dresden Castle, on the occasion of the anniversary of the House of Wettin, the princes of the House of Wettin from 1089 to the present (then) were to be depicted. Numerous studies and preparatory work on the depiction of the historically correct clothing, the regal insignia , the heraldry up to the horse breeds in use at the time and their bridles were necessary before the enormous work as sgraffito was created, i.e. scratched into the still soft plaster. In 1906 Walther directed the necessary renovation of the prince's train, which had since been damaged by weathering and was carried over to porcelain tiles. At the end of the prince's procession, his portrait is on the right edge. Wilhelm Walther also depicted one of his sons on the prince's procession, as well as his two assistants, two of his teachers and his painter colleague Ludwig Richter , to whom he was closely connected.
From 1878 to 1900 Walther worked as a professor at the Dresden Art Academy. A number of altarpieces and glass windows for Saxon and Bohemian churches, etc. a. for his mother's hometown, Deutscheinsiedel . He also designed the three glass windows for the choir of the Frauenkirche in Meißen, which were made by Bruno Urban in Dresden.
His many religious pictures and his diary speak of his deep roots in the evangelical faith. After completing the procession of princes in 1876, he said: "Wherever I look, I see God's blessing."
Walther died on May 7, 1913 at the age of almost 87 years. His grave is located in the Inner Matthäusfriedhof in Dresden's Friedrichstadt .
The primary school in Cämmerswalde was named after him.
literature
- Clemens von Hausen: The procession of princes on the sgraffito frieze on the Königl. Castle in Dresden. Thoughts while contemplating it . Heinrich, Dresden 1903.
- Gotthard B. Schicker : Grafitti royal - Wilhelm Walther the prince train painter . In: Dicknischl - Erzgebirge people from then and now. Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft Marienberg, 2008, ISBN 978-3-931770-76-1 , pp. 35-39.
- Karlheinz Blaschke : The prince procession to Dresden. Urania, Freiburg 1991, ISBN 3-332-00377-1 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Blaschke: The prince procession to Dresden. 1991, p. 40.
Web links
- Literature by and about Wilhelm Walther in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Walther, Wilhelm |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Walther, Adolf Wilhelm (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German artist, professor and creator of the Prince's procession in Dresden |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 18, 1826 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cämmerswalde , Ore Mountains |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 7, 1913 |
| Place of death | Dresden |