Albany Fine Art : Biography of Joseph HAUBER

Joseph HAUBER

German, 1766-1834

Hauber Joseph Hauber
by Simon Warnberger
© The Hauber Family

Much sought after court and society painter whose sensitive portraits and large-scale religious works are to be seen throughout Germany

A painter and engraver, Joseph (Josef) Georg Hauber was born in 1766, in Geratsried, in Southern Germany, near to the Austrian border. He was the son a carpenter and showed artistic talent from an early age.

He received his first tuition from Anton Weiss in Rettenberg in Allgäu and, in 1785, he moved to Vienna to study at the Vienna Academy under Roman Anton Boos (German, 1739-1810) and Johann Jakob Dorner (German, 1741-1813). He settled in Munich and continued his studies, further developing his technique by copying the Old Masters, including Rubens (Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640) and van Dyck (Sir Anthony van Dyck, Flemish, 1599-1641).

Hauber painted portraits and large pictures from religious history and was much sought after as a Munich court and society painter in the Classical style. Bode’s lithograph of his painting, The Dying Saviour, expanded his reputation further.

He was appointed Professor of the Munich Drawing Academy (Zeichenakademie) in 1797 and, in 1808, Professor of the Munich Akademie (Academy of Fine Arts), this being one of the oldest and most important art academies in Germany.

His paintings are exhibited across Germany: in Munich galleries, the Lenbachhaus, the Munich City Museum and the Bavarian State Painting Collection. He also created over 50 alterpieces for churches in Munich and Upper Bavaria, including those at churches in Altenerding, Dachau and Missen.

Hauber married Katharina Millbaur in 1794 and they had 11 children. He died in Munich in 1834.