Joseph Fay (artist)

Joseph Fay (6 August 1812, Cologne - 27 July 1875, Düsseldorf) was a German painter and illustrator; associated with the Düsseldorfer Malerschule.

Joseph Fay (date unknown)

Life and work

From 1833 to 1844, he studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf; initially with Karl Ferdinand Sohn. From 1841 to 1842, he attended the master classes taught by Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow.

Faust and Mephisto in the Dungeon

In 1840, together with Lorenz Clasen, Heinrich Mücke and Hermann Plüddemann, he won a competition sponsored by the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, to create a fresco depicting the early history of the Germans, up to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, at the Altes Elberfelder Rathaus. This fresco, executed in 1843, proved to be his artistic breakthrough and received praise from the poet, Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter. It was destroyed during World War II.

He went to Paris in 1844, where he studied history painting with Paul Delaroche. After returning to Düsseldorf, he produced no major works. In 1848, he became one of the co-founders of the progressive artists' association "Malkasten" (Paintbox).

After the revolution of 1848, he focused on simple genre scenes and works inspired by literature, including a melodramatic episode from Faust by Goethe. Many of his paintings featured Italian motifs, and he became a regular visitor to Italy. The background landscapes in his works were often painted by August Weber. He occasionally worked as an interior designer, and took a few private students; notably Karl Ferdinand Wimar.

Roman peasant women at the well, with a Capuchin friar on his donkey

His wife, Marie, was the daughter of Heinrich Arnz, a publisher and printer whose brothers, Albert and Otto Arnz were also painters. Their son was the animal painter, Ludwig Fay.

Sources
  • Moritz Blanckarts (1877), "Fay, Josef", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 6, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 590–591
  • Fay, Joseph. In: Friedrich von Boetticher: Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte. Vol.I, Dresden 1895, pg. 288 f.
  • Lisa Hackmann: "Fay (Fey), Joseph (Josef)" In: Bénédicte Savoy (Ed.): Pariser Lehrjahre. Ein Lexikon zur Ausbildung deutscher Maler in der französischen Hauptstadt. Vol.2: 1844–1870, De Gruyter, 2015 ISBN 978-3-11-031477-9
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