Bause, Johann Friedrich (1738-1814), Half-length portrait of a man with beard and cap, 1782

Johann Friedrich Bause (1738 Halle a. d. Saale - 1814 Weimar). Half-length portrait of a man with beard and cap after a drawing by Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich. Etching and copper engraving, 20,4 x 16,7 cm (plate size), 37,5 x 27,8 cm (paper size), inscribed at lower left "C. W. E. Dietrich del.", signed and dated at lower right "J. F. Bause fec 1782". Keil, no. 24. II. Brown tonal print with broad margins.

- Plate edge partly slightly browned and dusty in the wide margin.

- A Rembrandt of the 18th century -

The sitter, in the manner of Rembrandt, gazes out at the viewer with a penetrating gaze and yet, despite this sharpness, is given a painterly fluidity that contributes decisively to the attractive aura of this picture. The first version of the print, dating from 1777, was a pure etching. Bause's mastery of this technique, as well as of engraving, enabled him to create the finest nuances of light and shadow, as is particularly evident in the backlit strands of hair on the right side of the head. In 1782, after five years, Bause returned to the painting, which was unusual for the busy artist, and therefore this work has a special significance for Bause's artistic self-conception, especially as it was not a commissioned work. In the second attempt, Bause reworked the plate with a chisel, resulting in a more precise etching and a more concise depiction, culminating in the gaze. At the same time, however, the newly acquired sharpness is charged with atmosphere by the warm brown tone now used, to which the free hatchings, almost completely detached from the subject, also contribute, superimposing the coat on the collar, which has been made more precise with the graver.
The reworking that has taken place makes it clear that the graphic reproduction - in this case of a drawing by Dietrich - has not been conceived as the most meticulous possible copy, which is not even possible because of the medial leap from drawing or oil painting to graphic art, but as a new creation, which at the same time represents an interpretation of the reproduced work. Graphic reproduction is thus a creative art of interpretation, which is here sharpened to Bause's artistic self-conception. Georg Keil reports that Bause - like the sitter - had beautiful long hair, which he had styled every day. Whatever truth there may be in this anecdote, its true essence lies in the fact that Bause here shows himself as an artist refracted through the template of the drawing, which is reinforced by the fact that Dietrich's drawing refers to the self-portraits so central to Rembrandt's oeuvre.

"As a portrait engraver he [i.e. Bause] belongs to the most excellent masters. [...] The freedom and certainty of the painter are undiminished in his engraved portraits. The parts of the flesh are exquisitely treated with infinite delicacy and softness, and every substance is faithfully and truly expressed in its character".

Georg Keil

Johann Friedrich Bause von Anton Graff, 1807

About the Artist

Johann Friedrich Bause was orphaned at an early age and trained himself as an artist, making him one of the great self-taught artists of the 18th century, along with Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki. Initially Bause engraved book decorations for booksellers in Halle, but in 1759 he went to Augsburg for a year to study the mezzotint technique under Johann Jacob Haid. In Augsburg he became friends with Anton Graff, who was about his age and who painted portraits of Bause in Augsburg. Later, during Bause's time in Leipzig, Graff stayed with Bause, who would engrave a total of 45 of his portraits, while Graff in turn portrayed Bause several times.
Back in Halle from Augsburg, Bause began to produce prints, preferring drawings by Georg Friedrich Wille, a Parisian artist whom he greatly admired. In 1766 he dedicated the print Die fleißige Hausfrau after Gerard Dou (Keil, 35) to Wille. Wille recognised Bause's talent and contacted him, which led to a correspondence that lasted until Wille's death in 1808.
In 1766 Bause was appointed by Adam Friedrich Oeser to teach copper engraving at the newly founded Leipzig Academy of Arts. In Leipzig Bause had a printing press installed in his house to keep the quality of the engravings at the highest level.
In 1786 Bause became an honorary member of the Prussian Academy and in 1796 of the Stockholm Academy. In 1809, with failing eyesight, he made his last engraving, a portrait of his son-in-law. In 1813, due to the French occupation, he left the city with his wife and widowed daughter and moved to Weimar, where he died soon after.
The artist's work, which fell into oblivion at the end of the 19th century, is gradually being rediscovered, as shown by the recent monographic exhibitions in Leipzig and Luxembourg.

Selected bibliography

Georg Keil: Catalog des Kupferstichwerkes von Johann Friedrich Bause, Leipzig 1849.

Nicole Linke: Johann Friedrich Bause. Ein heute kaum bekannter hallescher Kupferstecher des 18. Jahrhunderts. In: Von Nutzen und Vergnügen. Aus dem Kupferstichkabinett der Universität Halle, hrsg. v. Ralf-Torsten Speler, Halle 1999.

Stephan Brakensiek (Hrsg.): Leipziger Allerlei – Johann Friedrich Bause (1738–1814) und der Porträtstich im 18. Jahrhundert, Trier 2014.