Alexander Julius Klünder (Russian: Александр Иванович Клюндер; 20 February 1802,

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

– 8 January 1875, Tallinn) was a

Baltic-German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly ...

painter and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

, known primarily for his portraits.

Biography

His father was a tailor. After attending the public schools, he studied economics at the Imperial University of Dorpat (now the University of Tartu) from 1823 to 1826. At the same time, he pursued what would prove to be his true interests by studying at an art school operated by Karl August Senff.Biographical notes
@ the University of Tartu Library. At that time, he created his first significant portrait, that of the newly graduated

Friedrich Robert Faehlmann Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (Fählmann) (31 December 1798 in Ao Manor, Kreis Jerwen – 22 April 1850 in Tartu) was an Estonian writer, medical doctor and philologist active in Livonia, Russian Empire. He was a co-founder of the Learned Estonian ...

, who would later become a prominent physician and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. After completing his studies, he worked as a freelance artist and art teacher. In 1827, on the 25th anniversary of the University's reopening, he was commissioned to paint portraits of notable professors; a project which kept him occupied until 1829. After its completion, he moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where he devoted himself exclusively to portraiture, mostly miniatures. He proved to be very successful there; in 1834, he was awarded the title of "free artist" and, in 1839, he became an Agrégé. Two years later, he was named an Academician and was elected a member of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

. In addition to portraits of the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

, other members of the nobility, and the government, his sitters included

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

and the painter

Karl Bryullov Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в; 12 December 1799 – 11 June 1852), original name Charles Bruleau, also transliterated Briullov and Briuloff, and referred to by his friends as "Karl the Great", was a ...

. He was also commissioned to paint a series of about 60 portraits depicting members of the Chevalier Guard Regiment, which he worked on until 1850. Later, he did a series devoted to historical military clothing and weapons. After becoming ill and retiring, he returned to Tallinn and spent his final years there.

References

External links

Entry on Klünder
@ the Baltisches Biografisches Lexikon

@ Kunstnikud
Works by Klünder
@ the

Art Museum of Estonia The Art Museum of Estonia ( et, Eesti Kunstimuuseum) was established in 1919. Originally based in Kadriorg Palace, the museum has expanded across several sites and today exhibits both international and local art works. At the end of the 1970s, in t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klunder, Alexander Julius 1802 births 1875 deaths Artists from Tallinn People from Kreis Harrien Baltic-German people Portrait painters 19th-century Estonian painters 19th-century Estonian male artists