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Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch

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Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch; etching by Daniel Chodowiecki (1776)
The Oak-woods of Querum [de] (1792)

Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch (16 October 1723, Hessendamm, between Hesse and Mattierzoll - 6 August 1803, Salzdahlum) was a German landscape painter and illustrator. His unusual first name was not a nickname derived from the Turkish word "Pasha", as is often stated. It came from his godfather, Pasche Wipperling, and was an abbreviation of "Paschalis".[1][2]

Life and work

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His father, Daniel Weitsche, was a bricklayer. For a short time, he attended the Latin School in Osterwieck, then worked as a clerk in Wolfenbüttel. In 1744, after three years in the service of a Captain named Von Blum, in Braunschweig, he became a soldier.

During his military service, he taught himself how to paint by copying works, possibly at the behest of a commanding officer who learned of his early interest in art. By 1756, he had become skillful enough to obtain a position as a porcelain painter at the Fürstenberg China Factory. In the 1760s, he began to create oil paintings; primarily local landscapes and scenes from the Harz region. In 1780, he and Johann Heinrich Ramberg made a trip through the Harz Mountains, and published an album with 12 views that served to establish his reputation.[3]

He also occasionally worked as an art dealer and, for several decades, was employed by the lacquerware manufacturer, Stobwasser [de], as a painter and trainer. In 1784, he was named a member of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Five years later, he was appointed "Inspector" (a type of Curator) for the art gallery at Salzdahlum Castle. He became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1795.

In 1748, he married Anna Stoppen. Their sons, Friedrich Georg Weitsch and Johann Anton August Weitsch [de], both became painters. Anna died in 1783 and he remarried; to Sophie Helmkampf. In 1803, Johann succeeded his father as Inspector at Salzdahlum Castle.

References

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  1. ^ "erfahren wir auch, daß der vorname pascha"
  2. ^ "Vier Viertel Kult" (PDF). Stiftung Braunschweigischer Kulturbesitz. p. 55.
  3. ^ Alheidis von Rohr (2003), "Ramberg, Johann Heinrich", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 21, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 128–129; (full text online)

Further reading

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  • Paul Zimmermann (1896), "Weitsch, Friedrich", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 41, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 626–629
  • "Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch". In: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Vol.35: Waage–Wilhelmson. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1942, pp. 350–351.
  • Anette Boldt-Stülzebach: "Weitsch, Pascha Johann Friedrich". In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (Eds.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon – 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8, pp. 644–645.
  • Jochen Luckhardt: "Pascha Johann Friedrich Weitsch". In: Luitgard Camerer, Manfred Garzmann, Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (Eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon, Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5
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