| Johann Karl Bähr | |
| Birth Date: | 1801 8, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Riga, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire |
| Death Place: | Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony |
| Occupation: | Painter, writer |
Johann Karl Bähr (1801–1869) was a German painter and writer.
Bähr was born in Riga on 18 August 1801.[1] He studied under Matthaei in Dresden and completed his art education with a visit to Italy in 1827–29.[1] He married in Dresden, then spent some time back in Riga, before settling permanently in Dresden in 1832.[1] He was made a Professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1840. Enthusiastic about poetry, he moved in the circle of Ludwig Tieck in Dresden, and was a close friend of Julius Mosen.[1]
He then worked again in Riga and finally went to Dresden for good in 1836. Here he taught at the Art Academy from 1840, where he was appointed professor in 1846.[2]
Bähr was in demand as a portraitist, and also painted some historical works.[1] He wrote several books: Die Gräber der Liven (1850), a report on some archaeological excavations in Livonia which he undertook in 1846; Lectures on Dante's Divine Comedy (1853); Lectures on the Colour Theories of Newton and Goethe (1863) and The Dynamic Circle (1860–68), a scientific work which occupied him almost exclusively for the last ten years of his life.[1]
Bähr's large collection of Latvian medieval antiquities was purchased by the British Museum in 1852.[3]
He died at Dresden on 29 September 1869.[1]
His paintings include:[4]
Attribution: