Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (Menzenschwand, in Black Forest, the April 20th 1805 - Francfort-sur-le-Main, July 8th 1873) is an academic painter and German Lithographe. He was the appointed portraitist of the European sovereigns of the middle of the 19th century.

Biography

After having studied engraving in his uncle with Freiburg, it leaves in 1823 to work with Munich, at the lithographic institute of Piloty. It receives at that time the councils of the portraitist Joseph Karl Stieler. Established with Karlsruhe, it successfully carries out a portrait of the large duke Léopold de Bade then is named painter at his court. In 1834, it comes to Paris and, protected by the queen Marie-Amélie, of which it carries out the portrait, it becomes with the mode, not only in France but through all Europe. Its admirors see in him the successor to sir earlier Thomas Lawrence, dead a few years.

Winterhalter, thanks to its talent but also with its “diplomacy”, is the appointed painter of many sovereigns.

It takes part in various exposures: with the Living room of Paris of 1835 with 1838, obtaining a medal of second class in 1837, one of first class to the World Fair of 1855, to the living room of the Royal Academy of London, 1852 with 1867. It is promoted knight of the Légion of honor in 1839, officer in 1857.

He dies in 1873 of the Typhus at the time of a stay in Francfort-sur-le-Main, where he is buried.

Its work

He had the reputation to be the preferred painter of the Reine Victoria. Formed with the French style, he lived with Paris most clearly of his career and painted the Portrait S of the majority of the European crowned heads. He thus carried out portraits of State of the Belgian royal families (the king Léopold), English (the Prince Consort Albert), Austrian (the empress Sissi) and Frenchwomen (Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis-Philippe, the empress Eugenie, the imperial Prince), as well as of the portraits society men (Edouard André). He had the reputation to be a so skilful draftsman whom he could paint directly on the fabric without preliminary study. However, its style, considered as romantic, coloured and surface was worth to him only one minor artistic interest, its works being of more one interest of a historical nature. A major exposure of its tables to the National Portrait Gallery of London and to the Petit Palais in Paris in 1987 more recently gave it on the front of the scene.

List works

Portrait of Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn , (1843), with the John Paul Getty Museum
Portrait of the Eugenie Empress surrounded by her lady-in-waitings , (1855), with the Castle of Compiegne
Portrait of Carmen Ida Aguado , (1860), with the Museum of the Castle of Versailles
Portrait Madam of the duchess Sophie de Morny , (1863), with the Castle of Compiegne
Portrait Mrs Rimsky-Korsakov , (1864), with the Museum of Orsay

See too

academic Painting

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