Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann
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Anna Maria Elisabeth Lisinska Jerichau-Baumann (21 November 1819 – 11 July 1881) was a Polish-
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
painter. She was married to the sculptor Jens Adolf Jerichau.


Early life and career

Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann was born in Żoliborz (French: ''Joli Bord'') a
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...
of
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. Her father Philip Adolph Baumann (1776–1863), a mapmaker, and her mother, Johanne Frederikke Reyer (1790–1854), were of German extraction. At the age of nineteen, she began her studies at the
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová ...
which at the time was one of the most important art centres in Europe and her early subject matter was drawn from Slovak life. She is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. She began exhibiting there and in 1844 attracted public attention for the first time. After she moved to Rome, her paintings were primarily of local life. When Baumann was not travelling, she spent many hours a day in her studio in Rome. She was particularly fond of the Italian painters. Baumann had great success abroad, however, and had a special following in France where she was twice represented at the
World Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
in Paris, first in
1867 Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed a ...
and again in
1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Bat ...
. In 1852 she exhibited some of her paintings in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and
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requested a private presentation in Buckingham Palace. Among the portraits presented to the Queen was her painting of Hans Christian Andersen, completed in 1850.


The harems of the Ottoman Empire

In 1869–1870 Baumann traveled extensively in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle-East, and again in 1874–1875 accompanied by her son Harald. Being a woman, she was able to gain access to the
harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...
s of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and as a result was able to paint scenes of harem life from personal observation, in contrast to most artists of the time, whose work on this popular subject was entirely derived from the imagination or other artists in the same position as themselves (see Orientalism). Nevertheless, as Roberts points out, she had to curb her desire to paint the women of the harems as Europeans liked to imagine them because they insisted on being painted in the latest Paris fashions. In 1869, she was admitted into the harem of Mustafa Fazil Paşa. She was able to gain entry because of her royal patronage in Denmark and brought with her a letter of introduction from
Princess Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 t ...
by then the Princess of Wales. The princess had accompanied her husband (the future
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
) on a grand tour which included the Ottoman Empire, earlier that year, and therefore had great influence. But the fact that Mustafa was a liberal in favour of a Western style constitutional government and was a vocal proponent of modernization played an important part in her being granted entry. She was entranced by Mustafa Paşa's daughter Nazlı and wrote home to her husband and children, 'Yesterday I fell in love with a beautiful Turkish Princess'.Mary Roberts
''Harem Portraiture: Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann and the Egyptian Princess Nazli Hanım'' – in:
''Local/global: Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century'' edited by Deborah Cherry and Janice Helland, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006)
Her work from this period is sometimes decorative and frequently sentimental but with a fine sense of colour and lighting. The sensualism in some of these paintings was still considered taboo in some parts of Europe and the Danish art world tried to keep these works out of sight. Until recently, her paintings were kept in museum storerooms in Denmark. The erotic quality in many of her husband's statues may have helped her to disregard this provincialism in spite of the obvious social risks to a woman at the time.


Personal life

Baumann met her husband, Jens Adolf Jerichau, an art professor, in Rome. They married in 1846 and had nine children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the rest, several became accomplished painters including Harald Jerichau (1851–1878), who died of malaria and typhus in Rome, and Holger Hvitfeldt Jerichau (1861–1900) who painted primarily impressionistic landscapes. His work earned the favour of the Russian Royal Family whose patronage helped him finance his foreign travels. He was called "a true visionary and talented artist" by the art critics of the time and had many successful exhibitions but like his older brother died young at age 41. One of his paintings sold for over twelve thousand dollars in 1991. She has several other descendants who are artists and her grandson J.A. Jerichau (1891–1916) was one of Denmark's most talented
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
painters.


Children

*Thorald Harald Adolph Carol Lorentz (1848) *Marie (1850) *Harald (1851) *Caroline Elisabeth Nanny (1853) *Louise (1859) *Sophie Dagmar Elisabeth (1859) *Holger Hvitfeldt (1861)


Selected works


Drawings

*''Portrait of Jenny Lind'' (1845), 19x21.5 Pencil *''A child, 'Titi (1856), Gouache/paper *''An Angel'' (1857) Watercolour, pencil/paper *''Damenportrait'' (1859) 19x13 Ink *''Portraet af egyptisk kvinde'' or ''Portrait of an Egyptian fellah woman holding a wine jug'' (dated Cairo 1870). With Baraset House Fine Art. *''Höjtlaesning ved sygelejet'' (1878), 11.5x19 Ink *''Höjtlaesning ved sygelejet'' (1878), 11.5x19 Ink/paper *''Havfrue'' 21x31, Pencil/paper *''Adam og Eva'' 32x21, Pencil/paper *''Dameportraet'', Pencil/paper *''Portraet af Johanne-Luise Heiberg'', 8x6Ink, pen *''Lille dreng med bog'', 31x21 Pencil/paper


Written works

Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann wrote two books about her life: * ''Ungdomserindringer'' (''Youthful Memories'') (1874) * ''Brogede rejsebilleder'' (''Motley Travel Pictures''), Copenhagen (1881)


See also

*
Art of Denmark Danish art is the visual arts produced in Denmark or by Danish artists. It goes back thousands of years with significant artifacts from the 2nd millennium BC, such as the Trundholm sun chariot. For many early periods, it is usually considered ...
* Mermaid (Jerichau-Baumann)


References


Bibliography

* Nicolaj Bøgh, ''Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann'' (Copenhagen 1886). * Sigurd Müller, ''Nyere dansk Malerkunst'', Copenhagen (1884). * Peter Nørgaard Larsen, ''Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann'', Øregaard Museum (1996) * Peter Nørgaard Larsen in: Weilbach, Vol. 4, Copenhagen (1996). * Elisabeth Oxfeldt, (2005), ''Nordic Orientalism: Paris and the Cosmopolitan Imagination 1800–1900'', Museum Tusculanum Press. * Sine Krogh og Birgitte Fink, ''Breve fra London. Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann og den victorianske kunstverden'', Ny Carlsbergfondet og Strandberg Publishing (2018)


External links


Source

Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jerichau-Baumann, Elisabeth 1819 births 1881 deaths 19th-century Danish painters 19th-century Danish women artists Artists from Warsaw Danish people of German descent Polish emigrants to Denmark Recipients of the Thorvaldsen Medal Polish women painters Danish women painters Düsseldorf school of painting Orientalist painters