German, 1795-1818,German painter and draughtsman. His first drawing lessons, from the age of 13, were from Friedrich Rottmann (1768-1816), the father of the painter Carl Rottmann. In 1810 the Darmstadt Court Councillor, Georg Wilhelm Issel, discovered Fohr sketching at Stift Neuberg near Heidelberg and, the following year, invited him to Darmstadt and provided encouragement and financial support. From 1813 Fohr carried out commissions for Grand Duchess Wilhelmina of Hesse, for whom he produced a Sketchbook of the Neckar Region, a collection of views and historical subjects (30 watercolours; 1813-14) and also a Baden Sketchbook (30 watercolours, 1814-15; both Darmstadt, Hess. Landesmus.). These far surpassed the usual level attained in this genre in their sharpness of detail, delicacy of colour and pictorial inventiveness. The Crown Princess granted him an annual pension of 500 guilders. From July 1815 to May 1816, Fohr was a student of landscape painting at the Kunstakademie in Munich.
Portrait of Heinrich Karl Hofmann
1816 Pen on pencil on bright brownish paper, 254 x 212 mm Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart Like all German artists, Fohr preferred whole or three-quarters figures in the tradition of D?rer and Holbein. In his hometown of Heidelberg he portrayed one of the first proponents of German unity, the lawyer and journalist Heinrich Karl Hofmann. Space, setting, clothing and other such details played a subordinate role in Romantic portraits. Here, the artist concentrated on the face and eyes as the essential expressive elements Author: FOHR, Carl Philipp Title: Portrait of Heinrich Karl Hofmann Form: graphics , 1801-1850 , German , portrait