Issel, Georg Wilhelm

Born into a well-to-do family of a master of canvas production, his mother, nee Burger, before marriage, served at the court of the Darmstadt Landgraves, and then - the Dukes of Hesse-Darmstadt. In the family chronicle of the surname, it is noted that the father of George Wilhelm was not the husband of his mother, but the hereditary prince of Hesse, Ludwig I. This largely explains the subsequent position of the artist at the ducal court. The mother’s husband died in 1787, and the mother was engaged in raising the child. Georg Wilhelm received his education in his native Darmstadt, then graduated from the University of Giessen, art in Frankfurt, where he lived since 1804. Here, the Austrian artist Anton Radl is engaged in its formation as a painter. During this period of his life, Issel also tries himself in literature - for example, writes a tragedy about the favorite of Hanover elector Ernst August , Countess von Platen. This drama was staged on the Frankfurt stage, but was not successful. Beginning in 1810, the artist, who received the rank of “secretary chamber”, makes periodic trips through Odenwald and to Heidelberg. Among his close acquaintances and friends there appear such values ​​of the cultural life of Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, as philologist Heinrich Foss, son of the poet Johann Friedrich Foss , lawyer Friedrich Kropp, and a whole galaxy of artists. In 1814, he makes a trip to Tyrol with animal painter Max Joseph Wagenbauer. He was also friendly with the portrait painter Joseph Karl Stieler and the landscape painter Simon Warnberger. In 1814, Issel met with the playwright and poet, Count von Platen , and even earlier - with the 15-year-old aspiring artist Karl Philippe Vor . The latter moved to Darmstadt in 1811 and settled in the house of Issel.

In 1914, Issel made a trip to Paris, in 1815 - to Switzerland, from there to southern Germany, to the Black Forest, to Konstanz, and from there - again to central Switzerland, to its lakes. Beginning in October 1816, he lived for some time in Konstanz, where he belongs to the circle of the local cultural elite, painters Johann Jacob Biedermann, Robert Eberle , Lorenz Schönberger, August von Bayer and others. Issel is engaged in the design of an art museum open to all, and in this connection in 1817 draws up letters addressed to the Grand Duke of Hesse "On German Folk Museums of 1817. A few pious words about museums of German antiquities and arts" ( Über deutsche Volks-Museen 1817. Einige fromme Worte über Museen deutscher Alterthümer und Kunst ). In March 1818, the artist received the rank of court adviser. He travels through Germany, travels to Berlin, Dresden and Thuringia; here in July he meets with I.V. von Goethe . In 1910, the artist returned to Darmstadt and was engaged in the acquisition of works of art for the future art gallery, hoping also to become its chapter. However, this place was transferred to the painter Franz Hubert Müller .

In 1820, Issel arrives in Heidelberg and takes care of the creative heritage of the early deceased Karl Philippe Faure; he manages to collect 255 sheets of the artist's works, which became the basis of the Darmstadt collection of works by K.F. For. In July of the same 1820, Issel marries Victoria von Krismar, daughter of the mayor of Freiburg Joseph von Krismar. In this marriage, six children were born. Between 1827 and 1835, Issel owns the Egg Estate on the island of Mainau . He often visits Constance. Here, around the painter, an intelligentsia company gathers, which includes, among others, writer Annette Droste-Hülshoff , and poet and scientist Ludwig Uland . Issel works in the city archives of Konstanz and publishes the essay he found, “The Konstanz Storm of 1548” ( Der Konstanzer Sturm im Jahre 1548 ) by Georg Vögeli and Christoph Schultheis .

In 1836, Issel moved to Freiburg, from where he made trips to the Black Forest mountains “by nature”. Here he creates numerous landscapes, especially the Glottertal valleys. In 1844, the artist settled in Heidelberg, and remains here until his death. Through his acquaintance, the writer Henrietta Feuerbach , who often visited him here, he meets the artist Anselm Feuerbach , whom he patronizes.

EF Issel is the author of primarily landscapes of German nature. Most often these are views of the Black Forest and Lake Constance.

• View from Leutstetten through the undulating expanses between Seegaupt, Pöhl on Lake Starnberger (Blick von Leutstetten aus über das wellige Gelände zwischen Seeshaupt, Pähl auf den Starnberger See) (1814)
• View of the Hubs in Upper Bavaria (Aussicht auf Habach in Oberbayern) (1814)
• Saint-Etienne du Mont (1815)
• Meadow in the Black Forest and the brook (Schwarzwaldwiese mit Bach) (1815)
• Landscape on Lake Constance with wine on Mainau (Bodenseelandschaft mit Blick auf die Mainau) (1815)
• Part of the Triberg Waterfall (Ein Teil des Triberger Wasserfalls) (1815)
• Lunar landscape (Mondscheinlandschaft) (1819)

• Karl Lohmeyer: Aus dem Leben und den Briefen des Landschaftsmalers und Hofrats George Wilhelm Issel 1785–1870 . Heidelberg 1929.
• Almuth Heidegger: Georg Wilhelm Issel (1785-1870). Monographie und Werkkatalog eines Landschaftsmalers des 19. Jahrhunderts . München 1993.
• Sylva van der Heyden: Issel, Georg Wilhelm , in: Bénédicte Savoy, France Nerlich, France (ed.): Pariser Lehrjahre. Ein Lexikon zur Ausbildung deutscher Maler in der französischen Hauptstadt . Band 1: 1793–1843 , Berlin / Boston 2013, S. 124–126.

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  Landscape with a mill

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  Black Forest Creek House

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  Peasant house

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  Three churches near the Pantheon in Paris

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  In the woods