Albrecht Adam

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Albrecht Adam
Albrecht Adam
photographed by Franz Hanfstaengl around 1850
Born(1786-04-16)16 April 1786
Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany
Died28 August 1862(1862-08-28) (aged 76)
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Resting placeAlter Südfriedhof
Known forPainting

Albrecht Adam (16 April 1786 – 28 August 1862) was a

Napoleonic period. He became a well-known equine artist, a legacy continued by his grandson, Emil Adam.[1][2]

Life and career

Albrecht Adam was born in

Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, the Viceroy of Italy and Bonaparte's stepson and his wife Princess Augusta of Bavaria. The young artist was asked to join Prince Eugene's household in Milan as a Court painter. His duties included accompanying Eugene and his staff on military campaigns across Europe.[3][1]

Adam with the Grande Armée to Moscow

In 1812 Adam accompanied Prince Eugene as an artist on the expedition to Russia.[4] He was given a military officer's rank and attached to Eugene's Topographical Bureau, a small unit of engineers, cartographers and draughtsmen which had been established in 1801.[3] Adam travelled with IV Corps, composed mainly of Italian troops, on the long difficult journey to Moscow.[5] As the Grande Armée progressed across Europe and into Russia Adam wrote, sketched and painted. He was present at all the major actions and witnessed the triumphant march into the smouldering ruins of Moscow.[6] There seems little doubt that Adam was depressed, by what he had witnessed. After the key Battle of Borodino he described his feelings on visiting the battlefield.... The scene was one that filled me with horror. I felt paralysed and, only by calling to mind the countless other horrors I had been witness to in this frightful campaign, could I shake myself from my stupor ....[6] He returned early from Moscow arriving in Munich in December 1812 thus missing the painful decimation of the Grande Armée as it retreated from Moscow. He remained on Prince Eugene's staff for a further three years during which time Adam produced seventy-seven colour plates depicting the aftermath of the conflict.[1] They show devastated landscapes, battlefields strewn with corpses, bewildered civilians, battle weary soldiers and razed towns. The memoirs that accompany each plate provide a frank composition to the war that Adam witnessed.

Post 1815 Career

In 1815, with the Napoleonic wars drawing to a close, Adam relocated permanently to Munich, where he was court painter to Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, a position that allowed him to complete commissions for many prominent families in Bavaria and Austria.[1] Albrecht Adam's studio became a centre for aspiring artists not least his three painter sons: Benno, Eugen and Franz.[1] Theodor Horschelt, who later became known for his paintings of the Russian Caucasian War was a frequent visitor.

In 1824, his former employer Prince Eugene died and Adam began collating the images of the Russian Campaign gathering them together under the title Voyage pittoresque et militaire. The

St. Petersberg.[3]

Royal patronage continued under Ludwig I with commissions including a painting of the Battle of Borodino for the Royal Munich Residenz in 1838. Adam also painted, for Maximilian von Leuchtenberg, twelve battle scenes to hang in his palace in St Petersburg. On 18 March 1848, the Milanese rebelled against Austrian rule, during the so-called

id est Napoleon) with his general staff before the fall of Milan.[7]

In 1859 Adam followed the army of Napoleon III of France during the Italian campaign against Austria recording the action in a series of drawings and sketches. Returning to Munich he painted the Battle of Landshut 1809 (1859) and the Battle of Zorndorf 1758 (1860) for Maximilian II of Bavaria.

He remained a significant military painter, often assisted by his sons, until his death in Munich on 16 August 1862.[1][4] His brother Heinrich predeceased him by six months.

In around 1850 Adam is recorded as living at Sing Straße 13 in Munich.[8]

Illustrations of works

  • Soldiers Resting in a Village, A Cavalry Officer Holding an Austrian Banner, oil on canvas
    Soldiers Resting in a Village, A Cavalry Officer Holding an Austrian Banner, oil on canvas
  • One of Adam's depictions of the French invasion of Russia, showing the crossing of the Dnieper in September 1812
    One of Adam's depictions of the French invasion of Russia, showing the crossing of the Dnieper in September 1812
  • Lithograph depicting Prince Eugene of Beauharnis crossing the river Neman 1812
    Lithograph depicting Prince Eugene of Beauharnis crossing the river Neman 1812
  • Battle of Ostrovno fought during the Russian Campaign 1812.
    Russian Campaign
    1812.
  • Battle of Smolensk on 18 August 1812
    Battle of Smolensk on 18 August 1812
  • Horses at the Porch 1843
    Horses at the Porch 1843
  • Die Schlacht bei Novarra (The Battle of Novarra), 1858, by Albrecht Adam.
    Die Schlacht bei Novarra (The Battle of Novarra), 1858, by Albrecht Adam.
  • Tomb of Albrecht Adam at the Old Southern Cemetery in Munich
    Tomb of Albrecht Adam at the Old Southern Cemetery in Munich

See also

Notes

  1. German mediatization
    . In September 1802 Bavaria occupied the city in anticipation of the decree.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albrecht Adam.
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Schmidt, W. (1875). "Adam: Malerfamilie" . Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 1. Duncker & Humblot. pp. 44–45.
  2. ^ Horvat, Robert (10 August 2018). "History Painting: Napoleon in Burning Moscow by Albrecht Adam, 1841". Rearview Mirror. Robert Horvat & Rearview Mirror. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-84415-161-1
    . Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b Bryan, Michael (1903). "Adam, Albrecht". Bryan's dictionary of painters and engravers. Vol. 1. G. Bell and Sons. p. 5.
  5. ISBN 0-304-35267-5
    .
  6. ^
    OCLC 456749088
    .
  7. ^ https://www.akg-images.co.uk/archive/-2UMDHU209S1F.html. Fieldmarshal Radetzky and his general staff before Milan, 1848. Austrian recapture of Milan on 6 August 1848 after uprisings in the kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia
  8. ^ Maucher, Paul. "Alphabetic register of house owners 1849–1851" (PDF). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
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