Carl Joseph Begas, or Karl Begas, (30 September 1794, Heinsberg – 24 November 1854,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

) was a German painter who played an important role in the transition from

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: * Classical Realism *Literary realism, a mov ...

. He was the first in a multi-generational "dynasty" of artists.

Life and work

His family (originally "Begasse") came from Belgium, in the region near Verviers and

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...

. He was the third child of Franz Anton Begasse (1764–1842), a judge, and his wife, Susanne née Hoffstadt. In 1802, they moved to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, where he received his first artistic training from the

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 ...

, . Later, he studied at the Lyceum in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

with Clemens August Philippart (1751–1825). In 1813, he went to Paris, where he became a student of

Antoine-Jean Gros Antoine-Jean Gros (; 16 March 177125 June 1835) was a French painter of historical subjects. He was given title of Baron Gros in 1824. Gros studied under Jacques-Louis David in Paris and began an independent artistic career during the French ...

. While there, shortly after the Battle of Paris, his talent was noticed by King Friedrich Wilhelm III, who bought one of his works and became his patron. He remained in Paris until 1821. His first works dealt exclusively with Christian themes. A scholarship made it possible for him to live in Italy from 1822 to 1825. There, he became associated with the Nazarene movement, and first began to sign his name as "Begas". In 1825, he moved to Berlin and married Wilhelmine Bock, daughter of the

Master Builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in th ...

, Johann Ludwig Bock. After that, he devoted himself primarily to portraits. Their home soon became a meeting place for Berlin's "high society". The following year, he was named a Professor at the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and la ...

; a position he held until his death.

Joseph Petzl Joseph Petzl (23 December 1803, Munich – 23 April 1871, Munich) was a German genre painter of the Biedermeier school. He has left a collection of drawings documenting his everyday life, love affairs and travels, now in the Münchner Stadtmu ...

was one of his best known students. Around 1828, he came under the influence of the Düsseldorfer Malerschule and began to create works with historical and literary references, but always went back to portrait painting, largely for economic reasons. When the civilian order,

Pour le Mérite The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eag ...

, was established in 1843, he was commissioned to paint portraits of the medals' recipients, including the sculptors,

Christian Daniel Rauch Christian Daniel Rauch (2 January 1777 – 3 December 1857) was a German sculptor. He founded the Berlin school of sculpture, and was the foremost German sculptor of the 19th century. Life Rauch was born at Arolsen in the Principality of ...

and

Johann Gottfried Schadow Johann Gottfried Schadow (20 May 1764 – 27 January 1850) was a German Prussian sculptor. His most iconic work is the chariot on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, executed in 1793 when he was still only 29. Biography Schadow was born in ...

, the philologist, Jakob Grimm, and the naturalist,

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...

. In 1846, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV appointed him

Court Painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

He died in 1854, at the age of sixty, after returning from a visit to Rome. Four of his sons also became artists.

His children

Oskar Begas Oskar Begas (31 July 1828 in Berlin – 10 November 1883 in Berlin) was a German portrait and history painter. Life and career He took his first lessons from his father, the well-known painter Carl Joseph Begas, and began by doing portrai ...

(1828–1883) portrait painter and professor at the

. * (1830–1860) officer. * Reinhold Begas (1831–1911) sculptor, head of the

Siegesallee The Siegesallee (, ''Victory Avenue'') was a broad boulevard in Berlin, Germany. In 1895, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered and financed the expansion of an existing avenue, to be adorned with a variety of marble statues. Work was completed in 1901. ...

project. *Hellmuth Begas (1833–1893) officer. *Veronika Begas (1834–1844) * Adalbert Begas (1836–1888) painter, specializing in

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

scenes. *Susanne Begas (1839–1848) * Karl Begas (1845–1916) sculptor.

Sources

* Hans Mackowsky, "Begas, Karl (Joseph)", In: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol. 3: Bassano–Bickham, Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, 1909
Online
* * Rita Müllejans-Dickmann, Dorothee Haffner, Udo Felbinger: ''Carl Joseph Begas (1794–1854). Blick in die Heimat'', Exhibition catalog, Heinsberg, 1994 * *

External links

*
Begas-Haus
Homepage
Biography and references
@ the Portal Rheinische Geschichte {{DEFAULTSORT:Begas, Karl 1794 births 1854 deaths 19th-century German painters German male painters Nazarene painters German romantic painters Court painters Pupils of Antoine-Jean Gros Prussian Academy of Arts faculty German people of Belgian descent People from Heinsberg 19th-century German male artists