Johann Karl Bähr
Johann Karl Bähr (1801–1869) was a German painter and writer.
Johann Karl Bähr | |
|---|---|
 Self-portrait (1820) | |
| Born | 18 August 1801 |
| Died | 29 September 1869 (aged 68) |
| Occupation(s) | Painter, writer |
Life
Bähr was born in Riga on 18 August 1801.[1] He studied under Matthaei in Dresden[2] and completed his art education with a visit to Italy in 1827–29.[1] He married in Dresden, then spent some time back in Riga, before settling permanently in Dresden in 1832.[1] He was made a Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1840.[2] Enthusiastic about poetry, he moved in the circle of Ludwig Tieck in Dresden, and was a close friend of Julius Mosen.[1]
He then worked again in Riga and finally went to Dresden for good in 1836.[3] Here he taught at the Art Academy from 1840, where he was appointed professor in 1846.[4]
Bähr was in demand as a portraitist, and also painted some historical works.[1] He wrote several books: Die Gräber der Liven (1850), a report on some archaeological excavations in Livonia which he undertook in 1846; Lectures on Dante's Divine Comedy (1853); Lectures on the Colour Theories of Newton and Goethe (1863) and The Dynamic Circle (1860–68), a scientific work which occupied him almost exclusively for the last ten years of his life.[1]
Bähr's large collection of Latvian medieval antiquities was purchased by the British Museum in 1852.[5]
He died at Dresden on 29 September 1869.[1]
Works
His paintings include:[2]
- Virgil and Dante.
- The Anabaptists in Münster (lithographed by Hanfstängl, and by Teichgräber).
- Iwan the Cruel, of Russia, warned of his death by a Finnish Magician (signed and dated 1850); in the Dresden Galiery.
- Christ and St. Thomas (at Kiev).
- Christ on the Cross (at Zschopau),
- Portrait of Julius Mosen (lithographed by Hanfstängl).
References
- Clauß, Carl (1875). Bähr, Johann Karl. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Vol. 1. Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 769.
- Bryan,1886-9
- "Brief an Herrn von Bose, als er aus Frankreich nach Italien reiste. Im Jahr 1764", Vermischte Gedichte, De Gruyter, pp. 3–9, 31 December 1832, doi:10.1515/9783111405759-001, ISBN 9783111042299, retrieved 13 October 2022
- "Ernennung von Wiss. Direcktor H. Gottwald zum Direktor und Professor". Holz Als Roh- und Werkstoff. 39 (11): 476. November 1981. doi:10.1007/bf02606467. ISSN 0018-3768. S2CID 39621310.
- British Museum Collection
Sources
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Baehr, Johann Karl". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.