Rudolf Lehmann (artist)

For others with the same name, see Rudolf Lehmann (disambiguation)

Rudolf Lehmann
self-portrait, circa 1896
Born	19 August 1819 Ottensen, Duchy of Holstein
Died	27 October 1905 (aged 86) Bushey
Nationality	English-German
Known for	portraiture

Wilhelm August Rudolf Lehmann (19 August 1819, near Hamburg – 27 October 1905, in Bushey) was a German-English portraitist and author. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1866.

Life

Lehmann was born in Ottensen (now part of Hamburg) in the Duchy of Holstein, the son of painter Leo Lehmann. He and his elder brother Henri Lehmann studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-arts, in Rome, and with the painters Peter von Cornelius and Wilhelm von Kaulbach. Lehmann's major painting, The Blessing of the Pontine Marshes by Sixtus V was shown in Paris in 1846 and bought by the French government.^[1]

In 1866 Lehmann settled in London, became a British citizen, and painted his best known portraits.^[2]

He married Amelia Chambers, daughter of the Scot author and naturalist Robert Chambers. Amelia's sister Nina married Lehmann's younger brother Frederick, and the extended social circle of the two couples included Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Robert Browning, Lord Leighton, and other prominent figures.

Possibly the composer Massenet.

In 1896, a number of his engraved portraits were collected and published as Men and Women of the Century.^[3]

On 27 October 1905, he died at Boumemede, Bushey. He was buried in Highgate cemetery.^[1]

Family

One of Lehmann's daughters was Liza Lehmann, who became a notable English soprano and composer. Lehmann was the uncle of the British journalist and politician Rudolf Chambers Lehmann.

References

1.  Milner, James Donald (1912). "Lehmann, Rudolf". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. Robyn Asleson. "Lehmann, (Wilhelm Augustus) Rudolf (1819–1905)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34481. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. "RUDOLF LEHMANN DEAD.; Painter and Author Was Born in 1819 -- Settled in London in 1866.". New York Times. 1905-10-28. p. 5. Retrieved 2007-11-14.

External links

• Portraits by Rudolf Lehmann at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
• Drawings by Lehmann in the British Museum.