Johann Wilhelm Baur
{{Short description|German engraver, etcher and miniature painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Johann Wilhelm Baur
| image = Johann Wilhelm Baur by Jan Meyssens.png
| caption = Engraving by Jan Meyssens from a self-portrait.
| birth_name = Jean Guillaume
| birth_date = {{birth date|1607|5|31}}
| birth_place = Strasbourg
| death_date = {{death date and age|1640|1|1|1607|5|31|mf=y}}
| death_place = Vienna
| field = Painting
| movement = Baroque
| website =
}}
Johann Wilhelm Baur, Joan Guiliam Bouwer, or Bauer (Strasbourg, 31 May 1607 - Vienna, 1 January 1640) was a German engraver, etcher and miniature painter. He is famous for a series of illustrations of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Biography
Image:Althaea baur.jpg (from Greek mythology).]]
According to Houbraken, he learned to draw and paint from the miniaturist Friedrich BrentelHoubraken mentions Frederik Brentel along with Jakob van der Heyden, as being respected artists of Strasbourg. in Strasbourg, before embarking on a Grand Tour to Rome, where he painted for Brassiano,Perhaps Houbraken meant the Duke of Bracciano. a known patron of the arts. He specialized in watercolors of architectural follies in perspective, and for this reason was often employed to make pictures of gardens. He had the habit of talking when he was concentrating, and was known to have conversations with inanimate objects. In 1634 he broke off a trip to Naples to return to a woman in Rome.[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/houb005groo01_01/houb005groo01_01_0308.htm Joan Guiliam Bouwer biography] in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature According to Cornelis de Bie, Baur lived with Karel Škréta (Carolus Creten) while he was in Rome. Creten was a member of the Bentvueghels with the nickname Slach-sweerd.Het Gulden Cabinet, p 251 The RKD has assigned this nickname Slagzwaard (longsword) to Baur himself, who was probably also a member of the Bentvueghels, but whose nickname was not recorded by De Bie.
Many of his drawings of Ovid's stories, the passion of Christ in 24 plates, and scenes of daily life in Rome (with costumes of various nationalities) were engraved by Melchior Küsel of Augsburg. He died in Vienna of a sudden illness while on a commission by Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor.Quote by Houbraken from Roger de Piles
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- Filippo Baldinucci's Artists in biographies by Filippo Baldinucci, 1610–1670, p. 197 [https://books.google.com/books?id=zVQGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=baldinucci#PPA197,M1 Google books]
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Johann Wilhelm Baur}}
- [http://www.artnet.com/artist/132508/johann-wilhelm-baur.html Baur's "Moored shipping with figures on the shoreline" and "An italianate landscape" on Artnet]
{{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baur, Johann Wilhelm}}
Category:17th-century German engravers
Category:German Baroque painters