Adolph Jebens
GermanyBiography of Adolf Jebens
Adolf Jebens was a German portrait and battle painter who gained the most recognition for his extensive series of paintings dedicated to the Russian army. Born in Elbingen on March 19, 1819, he initially studied at the Berlin Academy of Art before moving to Paris. In Paris, he became a student of Paul Delaroche and later completed an internship in Italy.
In 1842, Jebens settled in Danzig, and in 1844, he relocated to Russia. In 1848, he became a painting instructor at the male and female departments of the Drawing School of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Around the same time, he started painting portraits commissioned by the Imperial Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, including A. S. Stroganov, S. S. Lanskoy, M. V. Ogarev, and Emperor Nicholas I (1853), which is now held in the painting collection of the State Museum-Preserve "Tsarskoye Selo."
Jebens' most well-known works are a large series of paintings dedicated to the Russian army. As of 2006, 137 of these paintings were known, with some considered lost and only known through later lithographs. Many of the individuals depicted in these paintings are attributed. They were created from the late 1840s to 1863 when Jebens returned to Germany. Despite this, he continued to work on his Russian military themes until 1869. In recognition of his work, he was awarded the title of academician by the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1861.
Jebens' works are held in various institutions, including the State Hermitage Museum, Artillery Museum, A.V. Suvorov Memorial Museum, Russian Museum, Central Military Medical Museum, and the collections of the imperial palaces in Gatchina, Tsarskoye Selo, and Peterhof.
In Berlin, Jebens enjoyed a reputation as a skilled portraitist, and his portraits can be found in many museums in Germany and Poland. He passed away in Berlin in 1888.
