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Johann Ernst Heinsius (; 21 May 1731,
More works by Heinsius
@ ArtNet (some may actually be by Johann Julius. See note above). {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinsius, Johann Ernst 1731 births 1794 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters German portrait painters People from Ilmenau
Johann Ernst Heinsius (; 21 May 1731, Ilmenau
Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately south of Erfurt and north of Nuremberg w ...
- 18 October 1794, Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
) was a German portrait painter and miniaturist
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century eli ...
.
Biography
His father was Johann Christian Heintz (c.1706-1756), a gunsmith who had become an artist at the court ofRudolstadt
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...
. In addition to his father, he may have studied with Carl Christlieb Reinthaler (?-1770), a local decorative painter. He made his name as a portrait painter working for several noblemen of Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
. His presence is testified to in Heidecksburg
Heidecksburg is a Baroque palace in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, and served as the residence of the princes to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. It is located prominently approximately 60 m above the old town. After a fire in 1735 and its reconstruction, it has ...
, Rudolstadt
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...
and in Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen (IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen.
Geography
It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra river ...
as well, until 1769 when his patron, Duke Ernst Frederick III, was compelled to declare bankruptcy.
In 1772, he was engaged to oversee the picture gallery at Castle Wilhelmsburg in Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, but lost this position in 1774 when the castle burned down and the collection was destroyed. After the arrival of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political uni ...
, who was still just a boy, he was occasionally employed by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (24 October 173910 April 1807), was a German princess and composer. She became the duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, by marriage, and was also regent of the states of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to ...
, the Grand Duke's mother. His portraits of them are among his best known, although some are reworkings of portraits by Johann Georg Ziesenis
Johann Georg Ziesenis (1716, Copenhagen – 4 March 1776, Hannover) was a German – Danish portrait painter.
Life
His father Johan Jürgen Ziesenis was a painter from Hanover who had been granted Danish citizenship in Copenhagen in 1709 and wh ...
. Sometime during this period, he also created a portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
.
Despite this limited success, his work in Weimar was always dogged by illnesses in the family, debt, and clinging relatives. In 1781, the Grand Duke granted him a three-year leave of absence, during which he was mostly resident in Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
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, postal ...
, working for the wealthy bourgeoisie. His best known work from this period was a portrait of , the wife of Georg Heinrich Sieveking
Georg Heinrich Sieveking (1 January 1751 in Hamburg, Germany – 25 January 1799 in Hamburg, Germany) was a German merchant and follower of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment. Together with his friend and business partner, Caspar Voght, he l ...
. When he returned to Weimar, he found that his family had squandered all of the money he had sent them. They apparently remained in this destitute state until 1788, when Georg Melchior Kraus
Georg Melchior Kraus (26 July 1737, in Frankfurt am Main – 5 November 1806, in Weimar) was a German painter. He was a co-founder of the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School, together with Friedrich Justin Bertuch, in 1776.
Life
He was the ...
helped him obtain a teaching position at the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School
The Weimar Princely Free Drawing School (german: Fürstliche freie Zeichenschule Weimar) was an art and literature educational establishment. It was set up in 1776 in Weimar by the scholar and ducal private-secretary Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747â ...
.
He was temporarily disabled by a stroke in 1792. Upon recovering, he went to Erfurt to carry out a commission, but died there in 1794.
His brother, Johann Julius Heinsius, also became a painter and emigrated to France. Their styles are similar and they are often confused.Werner Schneiders: "Der deutsche und der französische Heinsius. Fragen an ein Porträt des 18. Jahrhunderts", in: ''Das Achtzehnte Jahrhundert: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für die Erforschung des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts'' 23/1 (1999)
References
Further reading
* * Hedwig Dauch-Schroeder: ''Johann Ernst Heinsius (1731-1794). Ein Thüringer Bildnismaler der Goethezeit'', 1940.External links
More works by Heinsius
@ ArtNet (some may actually be by Johann Julius. See note above). {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinsius, Johann Ernst 1731 births 1794 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters German portrait painters People from Ilmenau