Carl Joseph Begas, 
German 1794-1854- 
Portrait study of Felix Mendelssohn, aged twelve; 
black...

Carl Joseph Begas, 
German 1794-1854- 

Portrait study of Felix Mendelssohn, aged twelve; 

black and white chalk on paper, 31.1 x 23.9 cm. 

Provenance: 
The sitter's family, and thence by descent. 

Note: 
The present work is a preparatory drawing for Begas’ portrait of the influential Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) at the age of 12, when he was already a celebrated musical prodigy. The final, full-size portrait, previously in the Märkisches Museum in Berlin, was destroyed by fire in 1945, making the present study a rare survivor, and a significant piece of musical history. This drawing may well have also informed another oil sketch of Mendelssohn by Begas, which was given to Dr Johann Ludwig Caspar (1796-1864), who had written the libretti for the operas Mendelssohn had composed when he was just eleven or twelve, and is now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The drawing also seems to have been the basis for a popular and widely-circulated oval-shaped engraving by August Weger (1823-1892).

Around the same time, Begas also portrayed Felix‘s sister Fanny Mendelssohn in the collection of the Begas Haus Museum in Heinsberg [Inv. CI 5], with the painting almost serving as a counterpart to her brother‘s lost portrait.

Begas studied under the French painter Baron Gros (1771-1835) and enjoyed success as a portraitist - see, for example, his charming portrait of ‘Mrs Gedicke’ in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin [A II 694]. He later became a professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts, where his students included Joseph Petzl (1803-1871). The present work is particularly striking for the sensitivity of its handling, with the artist’s gentle shading and distinctive treatment of the hair clearly recalling another sketch by Begas which sold at Lempertz, Cologne, on 19 November 2011, lot 1403 (€4,320). 

We are grateful to Dr Wolfgang Cortjaens (Head of the Applied Arts and Graphics Collections, German Historical Museum, Berlin) for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.