Woldemar Hau
{{short description|Russian painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| native_name = {{nobold|Владимир Гау}}
| image = Vladimir Hau1.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Self-portrait (1855)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1816|02|04}}
| birth_place = Tallinn
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1895|03|11|1816|02|04}}
| death_place = Saint Petersburg
| resting_place = Smolensky Lutheran Cemetery, Saint Petersburg
| spouse = {{marriage|Louise Sanftleben|1842}}
| known_for = watercolor painting
| alma_mater = {{Imperial Academy of Arts|Alumni|1836}}
| education = {{Imperial Academy of Arts|Member|1849}}
| awards =
}}
Woldemar Hau ({{langx|ru|Владимир Иванович Гау|Vladimir Ivanovich Gau}}; {{OldStyleDate|14 February|1816|4 February}} – {{OldStyleDate|23 March|1895|11 March}}) was a Baltic German watercolour painter best known for his portraits of Russian Imperial family and nobility, typical of the Biedermeier style.{{NDB|8|68|68|Hau, Woldemar|Hellmuth Weiss|137435193}}
Life and work
He was the son of painter Johannes Hau, who had emigrated from Northern Germany in 1795, and he grew up in the German community of Tallinn ("Reval" in German). His half-brother was the painter Eduard Hau. In addition to his father, he studied with the former Court Painter Karl von Kügelgen.
At age sixteen, he was offered an opportunity to paint the Grand Duchesses and received a letter of recommendation to Alexander Sauerweid, a Professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts. From 1833 to 1835 he was a "guest student" at the Academy. He worked as a freelance painter for three years, then travelled extensively throughout Italy and Germany for two years. On his return, he was named Court Painter, spending the next three decades painting the Royal Family and their associates. He was appointed a member of the Academy in 1849.
Among his most famous works are his portraits of Tsar Nicholas I and the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. He eventually painted all the members of the Royal Family as well as many familiar figures in Russian and Baltic German society, such as Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann and Natalia Pushkina.Eesti elulood. Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus, Tallinn 2000, {{ISBN|9985-70-064-3}}, S. 82 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14)
He also produced 200 miniature portraits of veterans of the Izmaylovsky Regiment. He died on 23 March 1895 in Saint Petersburg.
Selected portraits
File:Yuliya Samoylova by Hau .jpg|Countess Yuliya Samoylova (1840)
File:Elizabeth_Mikhailovna_by_Hau.jpg|Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia (1844)
File:Maria Nikolaevna with her children by Hau.jpg|Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and Her Children (1845)
File:Alekszandra Alekszandrovna orosz nagyhercegnő.jpg|Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (1845)
File:P.P.Pahlen.jpg|Peter von der Pahlen (1847)
File:Nikolay Adlerberg.jpg|Count Nikolay Adlerberg (1847)
File:Filaret (Drozdov) by Gau.jpg|Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow (1854)
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book |last=Karnaukhova |first=Lidiya A. |title=Владимир Иванович Гау: Русский камерный портрет |last2=Arkhangelsky |first2=Sergey I. |date=2010 |publisher=State Pushkin Museums |isbn=978-5-88149-452-0 |location=Moscow |language=ru |type=artbook / catalogue raisonné |oclc=748938105 |display-authors=etal}}
External links
{{Commons category|Vladimir Hau}}
- [http://digikogu.ekm.ee/eng/authors/author_id-869 Paintings by Woldemar Hau] in the Estonian Art Museum
- {{Find a Grave|29376245}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hau, Woldemar}}
Category:People from the Governorate of Estonia
Category:Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire
Category:Russian male painters
Category:Russian portrait painters
Category:19th-century painters from the Russian Empire