George Johann Scharf
Encyclopedia
George Johann Scharf was a water color
painter
, draughtsman
and lithographer
, and father of Sir George Scharf
and Henry Scharf
. He exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy from 1817 to 1850, and was a member of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours
.
). King Maximilian noticed the young artist and purchased his copy of a portrait of Prince Eugène de Beauharnais
. After working for a few years as a miniature painter and drawing master, Scharf learned the technique of lithography, which had been recently invented by his fellow countryman Alois Senefelder
. Scharf left Germany and wandered for five years in France and the Low Countries
. Caught up in the siege of Antwerp in 1814, Scharf escaped and joined the English army, where he was appointed lieutenant of baggage in the engineer department. In this capacity he was present at the Battle of Waterloo
and accompanied the allied armies to Paris. While there, he drew some views of the Bois de Boulogne
. Advised to try his fortune in England, Scharf left on New Year's Day 1816 and came to London, where he became a successful illustrator of ordinary life in England.
. It was Scharf's ambition to be "taken seriously as a ‘gentleman’ artist rather than as the ‘artisan’ printmaker on which is fame rests today.
During his first years in London, Scharf concentrated on drawing historic events, such as the Westminster Elections of 1818. He then branched out, creating genre images of daily life for German publishers who had settled in London, such as Rudolph Ackermann
, and illustrations for a number of London’s scientific institutions, such as the Zoological and Geological Societies and the Royal College of Surgeons
. Many examples of his skill are contained in the Transactions of the Geological Society and the works of Dr Buckland, Sir Richard Owen, and Professor Sedgwick. He also painted many diagrams of scientific and antiquarian subjects. In 1817, he sent four portraits to the Royal Academy
, and from 1826 was a frequent exhibitor, chiefly of topographical views both at the academy and with the New Society of Painters in Water Colours
, of which he was elected a member in 1833. In 1830 Scharf made a lithographic print based on Henry De la Beche
's Duria Antiquior
watercolour, which is credited as being the first scene of prehistoric life from deep time
to be widely circulated.
His drawings brought him into contact with Charles Darwin
, who commissioned Scharf for a series of illustrations of fossil bones from South America. But the two men had a falling out, for Darwin felt that Sharf's price was too high and that he was being "ripped off." After this event, Scharf's future commissions with scientific institutions began to dry up, and in his last years, Sharf struggled to sell his work.
, and Henry Scharf
. After his death Scharf's wife sold over a thousand of his drawings and watercolours to the British Museum
.
Water color
Water color may refer to:* Watercolor painting, a painting method* Color of water, a measure of water quality as well as a physical property of water* Water Colors , the first album by Japanese song writer Ayako Ikeda...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, draughtsman
Drafting
Drafting or draughting may refer to:* Campdrafting, an Australian equestrian sport* Drafting , slipstreaming* Technical drawing, the act and discipline of composing diagrams that communicates how something functions or is to be constructed. E.g.:** Architectural drawing** Electrical drawing**...
and lithographer
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
, and father of Sir George Scharf
George Scharf
Sir George Scharf KCB was an English art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Early years:...
and Henry Scharf
Henry Scharf
Henry Scharf was an illustrator, Shakespearean actor, and a professor of elocution. He was the son of illustrator George Johann Scharf and brother to Sir George Scharf, the first director of the National Portrait Gallery in London.-Biography:...
. He exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy from 1817 to 1850, and was a member of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours , initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, , is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London.-History:In 1831 the society was founded as the New Society of Painters in Water...
.
Early life
George Scharf was born in Bavaria in 1788. After receiving little formal education, he went to Munich in 1804 where he studied for a time under Professor Hauber and copied pictures in the Pinakothek (Neue PinakothekNeue Pinakothek
The Neue Pinakothek is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th century and is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world...
). King Maximilian noticed the young artist and purchased his copy of a portrait of Prince Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
. After working for a few years as a miniature painter and drawing master, Scharf learned the technique of lithography, which had been recently invented by his fellow countryman Alois Senefelder
Alois Senefelder
Johann Alois Senefelder was a German actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in 1796.-Actor, playwright:...
. Scharf left Germany and wandered for five years in France and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. Caught up in the siege of Antwerp in 1814, Scharf escaped and joined the English army, where he was appointed lieutenant of baggage in the engineer department. In this capacity he was present at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and accompanied the allied armies to Paris. While there, he drew some views of the Bois de Boulogne
Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine...
. Advised to try his fortune in England, Scharf left on New Year's Day 1816 and came to London, where he became a successful illustrator of ordinary life in England.
Professional Life in England
After Scharf arrived in London, he married Elizabeth Hicks, his landlady’s sister, and lived in a house on St. Martin's Lane. At the time, London was a thriving center for lithography, and Scharf was able to make a respectable living off his topographical views and genre scenes, which were easily transformed into prints. Although George Scharf's life has not been as well-documented as that of his son, he has left to posterity over a thousand drawings, watercolours and lithographs that chronicle London life in the first half of the 19th Century. Most of these works are stored in the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. It was Scharf's ambition to be "taken seriously as a ‘gentleman’ artist rather than as the ‘artisan’ printmaker on which is fame rests today.
During his first years in London, Scharf concentrated on drawing historic events, such as the Westminster Elections of 1818. He then branched out, creating genre images of daily life for German publishers who had settled in London, such as Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.- Biography :...
, and illustrations for a number of London’s scientific institutions, such as the Zoological and Geological Societies and the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
. Many examples of his skill are contained in the Transactions of the Geological Society and the works of Dr Buckland, Sir Richard Owen, and Professor Sedgwick. He also painted many diagrams of scientific and antiquarian subjects. In 1817, he sent four portraits to the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, and from 1826 was a frequent exhibitor, chiefly of topographical views both at the academy and with the New Society of Painters in Water Colours
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours , initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, , is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London.-History:In 1831 the society was founded as the New Society of Painters in Water...
, of which he was elected a member in 1833. In 1830 Scharf made a lithographic print based on Henry De la Beche
Henry De la Beche
Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche FRS was an English geologist and palaeontologist who helped pioneer early geological survey methods.-Biography:...
's Duria Antiquior
Duria Antiquior
Duria Antiquior, a more ancient Dorset, was the first pictorial representation of a scene of prehistoric life based on evidence from fossil reconstructions, which is now commonly known as paleoart. The first version was a watercolour painted in 1830 by the English geologist Henry De la Beche based...
watercolour, which is credited as being the first scene of prehistoric life from deep time
Deep time
Deep time is the concept that the Geologic time scale is vast because the Earth is very old. The modern philosophical concept was developed in the 18th century by Scottish geologist James Hutton...
to be widely circulated.
His drawings brought him into contact with Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, who commissioned Scharf for a series of illustrations of fossil bones from South America. But the two men had a falling out, for Darwin felt that Sharf's price was too high and that he was being "ripped off." After this event, Scharf's future commissions with scientific institutions began to dry up, and in his last years, Sharf struggled to sell his work.
Family
Scharf died at 29 Great George Street, Westminster, on 11 Nov 1860, and was buried in the Brompton cemetery. He was survived by his wife Elizabeth Hicks, who lived until 1869, and two sons, George, afterwards Sir George ScharfGeorge Scharf
Sir George Scharf KCB was an English art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Early years:...
, and Henry Scharf
Henry Scharf
Henry Scharf was an illustrator, Shakespearean actor, and a professor of elocution. He was the son of illustrator George Johann Scharf and brother to Sir George Scharf, the first director of the National Portrait Gallery in London.-Biography:...
. After his death Scharf's wife sold over a thousand of his drawings and watercolours to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Exhibitions at the Royal Academy
This information was taken from The Royal Academy of Arts; a complete dictionary of contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 19041817
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
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1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1841
1848
1849
1850
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External links
- Art Review: George Scharf's London
- George Scharf, British Museum
- Sir John Soane's Museum Newsletter, Spring 2009, p 3-5
- George Scharf, Chronicler of 19th Century London