Jean-Jacques Casimir Karpff (

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

, 12 February 1770 -

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, 24 March 1829) was a French painter, designer and miniaturist.Pantxika Béguerie, Georges Bischoff ''Grünewald: le maître d'Issenheim'' 2000 - Page 15 "Jean-Jacques Karpff (1770–1829). peintre et dessinateur, élève de David, fut à l'origine du premier "Musée national de Colmar". Après avoir dressé l'inventaire des œuvres d'art du Haut-Rhin, il les réunit afin d'assurer leur protection et leur ... Pupil of François Joseph Hohr in

, Karpff went to Paris in 1790. Legend has it that when he appeared in

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

's studio, one of his future classmates, judging Karpff unpronounceable David gave him the nickname of "Casimir". In 1795, he returned to Colmar where he taught drawing in the new school of fine arts and specialized in monochrome portraits. In 1806, he was summoned to Saint-Cloud to paint the portrait of the

Empress Josephine An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

, which earned him some success. He became the hosted guest of the poet Victoire Babois, where in

lived the rest of his life. Karpff was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery (27th Division).

References

* H. Lebert, "Note on Jean-Jacques Karpff Casimir", Journal of Alsace, in 1856, the seventh year, Colmar, 1856 * New dictionary of biography Alsatian, manual Gueth Francis, vol. 20, p. 1884 1770 births 1829 deaths People from Colmar Painters from Alsace {{France-artist-stub