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Franz KrugerGerman artist, portrait painter
Date of Birth: 03.09.1797
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Franz Krüger
Franz Krüger was a German artist and portraitist who worked at the Imperial Court of Russia and the Royal Court of Prussia. He was born on October 10, 1797, in the Gross Badegast estate, Anhalt-Dessau, which was leased by his father, Friedrich Krüger. As a child, he drew birds for an ornithologist living in a neighboring village. After a brief education at a gymnasium in Dessau, he began making portraits of his fellow students and teachers. He received his first professional lessons from landscape painter Karl Kolbe the Elder in Dessau.
Early Career
From 1812 to 1814, Krüger briefly attended the School of Drawing at the Berlin Academy of Arts but left because he saw no purpose in drawing plaster casts. As a skilled horse rider, he found inspiration for his subjects in the court stables, depicting soldiers, hunting scenes, and horses. His virtuosic depictions earned him the nickname "Pferde Krüger" or "Horse Krüger." His works caught the attention of the most prominent patrons.
Rise to Fame
In 1818, Krüger was first exhibited at the Berlin Academy of Arts, showcasing sketches of horses, hunting scenes, and military scenes. In 1820, his large equestrian portraits of the Prussian Prince August and Count von Gneisenau were displayed at an academic exhibition, establishing him as a popular portraitist in Berlin. In 1824, he received a commission to create portraits of members of the royal family, consisting of eighteen drawings in charcoal, as a gift for Friedrich Wilhelm III. Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich ordered his famous painting "Parade in Berlin."
Recognition and Later Years
In 1825, Krüger married Johanna Eunicke, a singer at the Berlin Opera. He was appointed a court artist by King Friedrich Wilhelm III with the title of royal professor. He was elected a full member of the Academy of Arts and received the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class. In 1830, his painting "Parade in Berlin" was exhibited with great success at the Berlin Academy exhibition and later displayed at the Concert Hall of the Winter Palace in February 1831.
Krüger continued to receive prestigious commissions, including portraits of members of the imperial family and the nobility in St. Petersburg. He made multiple trips to St. Petersburg, copying paintings in the Hermitage and completing commissioned portraits. In 1841, Tsar Nicholas I commissioned him to paint "The Russian Guard in Tsarskoye Selo in 1832" and a portrait of General Peter Wittgenstein.
However, during the revolution of 1848, Krüger experienced severe emotional distress and left Berlin. He completed his painting "Parade in Potsdam" in Dessau. In 1850, he made his fifth trip to St. Petersburg, creating portraits of Russian officers and lower-ranking guardsmen, as well as sketches for six portraits of individuals close to Nicholas I. He was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 2nd class.
Krüger's last Russian commission was a portrait of Nicholas I, which he completed in April 1855. In the following year, his wife passed away. On January 21, 1857, after three weeks of severe illness due to a cold caught while hunting, Franz Krüger died. He was buried at the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery in Berlin. His funeral procession consisted of over 50 carriages, including several from the court. As an artist who lived for his own pleasure and never denied himself anything, he left an inheritance of 750,000 marks to his heirs.
