Joseph Willibrord Mähler
Joseph Willibrord Mähler | |
---|---|
Born | (1778-06-10)10 June 1778 |
Died | 20 June 1860(1860-06-20) (aged 82) |
Nationality | German |
Known for | Painting |
Style | Portraits |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Beethoven18045JosephM%C3%A4hler.jpg/170px-Beethoven18045JosephM%C3%A4hler.jpg)
Joseph Willibrord Mähler (10 June 1778 – 20 June 1860) was a German painter.[1] He was born in Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein, the son of Franz Josef Mähler and Anna Johanna, née Vacano. He first served an apprenticeship in Dresden with Anton Graff to become a painter and later on, he continued with his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Mähler then decided to start a civil career, and he became an officer of the Secret Service Geheime Kabinettskanzlei (secret chancellery) in Vienna, while painting in his spare time.[citation needed]
Mähler was introduced to Ludwig van Beethoven by Beethoven's school day friend Stephan von Breuning in the winter 1803/04. He painted his first portrait of Beethoven, which shows three quarters of the composer's body in an Arcadian landscape, holding a lyre-guitar in his hand. (Today, the painting is located in the Beethoven Memorial, the Pasqualati House in Vienna). In the 19th century, this illustration – one of just a few depictions of Beethoven when he was young – mainly became famous due to a lithograph by Josef Kriehuber.[citation needed]
Around 1815, Mähler produced a series of portraits showing contemporary Viennese composers. As written in the Allgemeine Musikzeitung (General music journal) in August 1815, "all of them distinguish themselves in a most creditable way through the effectual brush stroke, the descriptive resemblance and the distinctive expression of their soul". A half-length portrait of Beethoven was part of the series. The painter created several versions of this portrait.[2][3] He died, aged 82, in Vienna.
Gallery
- Beethoven, 1815
- Antonio Salieri, 1815
References
- ^ Wacha: "Mähler, Joseph Willibrord". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 5, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1972, p. 404. (in German)
- ^ "Mähler's Beethoven", lewis-clark.org
- ^ "Portraits of Beethoven " Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, California State University, Dominguez Hills
External links
Media related to Joseph Willibrord Mähler at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
- e