Pictures from which you can study the history of Europe in the XVIII century: 800 virtuoso portraits of noblemen Anton Graff

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

An outstanding master of portraiture of his era, a German painter of Swiss origin - Anton Graff was a favorite of the German, Russian, Polish and Baltic nobility. The portraits, the heroes of which were hundreds of outstanding artists, politicians and titled persons, can be used to study the history of Germany and Europe as a whole. And his most important customers were Catherine the Great and Frederick of Prussia. In our publication there is a magnificent gallery of images of representatives of the high society of Europe of the 18th century by Anton Graff.

Connoisseurs of portrait painting highly value these works, which form an impressive panorama of the personalities of their time, not only for their psychological sophistication and technical virtuosity, but also for their historical documentaryness. We have an idea of what Schiller, Gellert, Prince Heinrich, Chodovetsky, Henrieta Hertz and many other historical figures looked like only because Graff painted their portraits almost 250 years ago.

By the way, Anton Graff is the undisputed leader in the number of portraits of noble persons in the history of German painting and not only. Thus, by order of the Russian Empress Catherine II, the artist copied a number of paintings from the Dresden Gallery for the Hermitage in 1796. Anton Graff is the author of 2000 paintings and drawings, of which 800 are pictorial portraits of his contemporaries, 80 are self-portraits, more than 300 are original drawings with a silver needle, as well as many subject paintings and landscapes. Nevertheless, despite the huge artistic heritage, art critics classify this master as one of the most famous strangers in the history of world art.

About the artist

Anton Graff (1736-1813) - German painter of Swiss origin, an outstanding portrait painter of his time. He was born in the town of Vertentur, in northern Switzerland. The future artist was the seventh of nine children in the family of a pewter maker. Like all children, little Anton from childhood was forced to help his father in his work. But the boy had a special talent. From an early age, he loved to draw most of all, and he did not want to continue the family dynasty of artisans.

Fortunately, the future portrait painter had an influential patron in time - a local pastor, who persuaded Graff Sr. to send his son to a drawing school. And at the age of 17, the young man began to study the basics of fine art under the guidance of the famous Swiss artist Johann Ulrich Schellenberg.

For three years of study, young Graff became not only the favorite student of his mentor, but also surpassed him in artistic skill. Having finally decided on the main genre of his work, he painted his first portraits to order, and with the proceeds the 20-year-old painter decided to go to Augsburg (Germany). From that time until his death, Anton Graff permanently lived and worked in Germany, only occasionally visiting relatives in Switzerland.

After moving to Augsburg, very soon Graff managed to win the recognition of lovers of portrait painting, which caused severe persecution by the local guild of artists. Competitors literally drove the Swiss out of their city. He moved to Ansbach, where he got a job as an assistant master to Johann Schneider. Here, in the main, Graff created copies of paintings by other masters, which, however, helped him hone his painting technique to perfection.

In November 1765 he received an invitation to come to Dresden to take the honorary position of the official portraitist of the local art academy of Saxony. At the court of the Saxon ruler Anton Graff, they received very well. The artist quickly made new influential friends and provided himself with well-paid orders for many years to come.

He was also repeatedly called to Berlin, offering the position of court painter and a huge salary, but he always turned down these offers. The painter got great pleasure from his work and his place of residence in Dresden, he was happy in his personal life and did not want to change anything.

A couple of years later, in 1759, Anton received a letter from an influential acquaintance, Johann Heid, in which he invited him to return to Augsburg. He also wrote that the main opponents of the young artist had departed to another world, so now no one would interfere with him. And, of course, Graff took advantage of the lucrative offer. Upon his return to Augsburg, the career of the young painter quickly took off. Wealthy customers literally lined up, many aristocrats wanted to have their own portrait by a talented portrait painter.

From time to time, the painter traveled to central Europe, visiting different cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In the early 1780s, he became interested in a new technique - drawing with a silver needle. These works were also in great demand, they were bought up for good money. Since 1800, the painter began to paint landscapes, which, like the works of the portrait genre, were received very enthusiastically by the public. For a long creative career, the painter amassed a decent fortune, which went to his children.

And in 1789 he received the title of professor at the Dresden Academy of Arts. Anton Graff was also a member of the Berlin, Vienna, Munich art academies. Until his death, he painted portraits of influential persons, genre paintings, landscapes, leaving to descendants a huge number of beautiful paintings.

Personal life

At the age of 28, the painter met his future father-in-law John Sulzer, the famous German philosopher. In Augsburg, he was passing from Berlin to Switzerland. None of them then could even imagine that after seven years they would become related. Anton Graff will marry Sulzer's daughter - Elizabeth Sophie Augusta, nicknamed "Gusta". They will live in this marriage for more than 40 years, will give birth to five children, of whom they will lose two in infancy.

Graff in his portraits was able to subtly capture and capture the character of a person, which was greatly appreciated by the customers. He often made copies of his works at the request of all the same customers, and also painted more than 80 self-portraits, most of which are now in museums in Germany and Switzerland.

Self-portrait with a green visor, was painted by the artist shortly before his death. And he was then 76 years old. Slightly hunched over, brush and palette in his hands, he throws us a farewell look, in which determination and melancholy are mixed. On the forehead of the artist there is a small cloth visor that protects the eyes from light. A year before the artist's death, his beloved "Gusta" died.

The artist died of typhoid fever in the summer of 1813 in Dresden, where he was buried in a local cemetery. Nowadays, streets in Winterthur (Switzerland) and Dresden (Germany) are named after Anton Graf. In honor of its Famous Citizen (BBW), the School of Professional Education named its building after Graff. Anton Graff House.

His paintings, especially portraits, are in great demand nowadays. Many of them are in museums and private collections in Switzerland, Germany (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden), Russia (Hermitage), Estonia (Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn) and Poland (National Museum, Warsaw).

Continuing the theme of talented portrait painters of past eras, read our publication: Why the aristocrats were lining up to the "last court artist" Philip de Laszlo.