Carl Joseph Begas

This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message )

Carl Joseph Begas, or Karl Begas, (30 September 1794, Heinsberg – 24 November 1854, Berlin) was a German painter who played an important role in the transition from Romanticism to Realism. 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

, 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, 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; a position he held until his death. Joseph Petzl was one of his best known students.

Around 1828, he came under the influence of the

.

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

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)
• Eberhard Ruhmer (1953), "Begas, Karl Joseph der Ältere", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 1, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 744–745; (full text online)
• Rita Müllejans-Dickmann, Dorothee Haffner, Udo Felbinger: Carl Joseph Begas (1794–1854). Blick in die Heimat, Exhibition catalog, Heinsberg, 1994
  ISBN 978-3-925620-14-0
• Robert Dohme (1875), "Begas, Karl", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 2, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 269–270
• Rita Müllejans-Dickmann (2004). "BEGAS(SE), Carl Joseph". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 23. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 61–68.
  ISBN 3-88309-155-3
  .

External links

• Literature by and about Carl Joseph Begas in the German National Library catalogue
• Begas-Haus Homepage
• Biography and references @ the Portal Rheinische Geschichte