Discover engraver (printmaker), reproductive printmaker, draftsperson Johann Georg Wille

Name variations

This field records and makes accessible name variations, as found in sources. Alternate spellings, nicknames, maiden names - with or without the married name - are included in this category.

: Will, Johann Georg
Wille, Jean-Georges

Qualifications: engraver (printmaker), reproductive printmaker, draftsperson, art dealer (person), court artist, art collector
Wille made from 1754 on almost only reproduction prints, among others after Netscher, Dou, Van Mieris, Ter Borch, Schalcken and Van Ostade; founded the Teutsche Zeichenschule in Paris in 1754. (Wiebel 2009) Wille’s studio became one of the most important printmaking centres in Paris, and a meeting-place for artists, collectors, dealers and, above all, young German engravers who wanted to train in Paris, including Balthazar Anton Dunker and Franz Edmund Weirotter. As a result he had considerable influence on engraving in Germany. (Turner et al. 1996) He was graveur du Roi and Court engraver of the King of Denmark. Napoleon Bonaparte named him knight of the Legion of Honor and the Institut de France. (Wikipedia)

Nationality/school: German, French
Wille obtained French citizenship (Turner et al. 1996)

Born: Giessen 1715-11-05
parish of Konigsberg, nearby Giessen, Biebertal, Hessen

Deceased: Paris 1808-04-05

Family relationships this field records any family relationship to one or more other artist(s).: father of Pierre-Alexandre Wille

See also In this field, you will find references to names of groups or to the artists that made/make up groups. You may also come across references to other artists if there was/is question of collaboration without a joint name. This is the case, for instance, with artists who rendered parts of works by other artists (such as with P.P Rubens and J. Brueghel I).

This person/entity in other databases

9 hits in RKDimages as artist
4 hits in RKDimages as provenance
6 hits in RKDlibrary as subject
31 hits in RKDexcerpts as artist

Suggested searches in RKDartists&

Biographical information

Education: Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Parijs)

After obtaining French citizenship he was approved (agréé) by the Académie Royale in 1755 (Turner et al. 1996)

Active in

Gladenbach
Thieme/Becker 1907-1950
Giessen
Thieme/Becker 1907-1950
Usingen
Thieme/Becker 1907-1950
Frankfurt am Main 1736
in 1736 via Frankfurt to Paris ((Thieme/Becker 1907-1950)
Darmstadt 1736
in 1736 via Darmstadt to Paris (Thieme/Becker 1907-1950)
Straatsburg 1736
Wille visited the copper engraver Georg Friedrich Schmidt in Strasbourg and went with him to Paris in 1736. (Wikipedia)
Parijs 1736 - 1808
Wille moved to Paris in 1736 (Gerson 1942/1983, p. 98) In Paris he lived for a while in the rue de l'Observance where Denis Diderot was his neighbor (Wikipedia)
Parijs 1762 - 1793
'quai des Augustins, près la rue Pavée' ([Diderot] 1766, p. 77)

born in

active in

died in

Connections with other artists

Teacher of This field mentions the names of pupils. What is at issue are the pupils who were significantly influenced by a teacher as opposed to every student someone ever had. See also the 'Education' field.: Bervic, Charles-Clément
Coclers, Bernard
Dunker, Balthasar Anton
Huber, Joseph Isidore Ignaz
Klauber, lgnaz Sebastian
Kobell, Ferdinand
Kraus, Georg Melchior
Longueil, Joseph de
Megen, Pieter Willem van
Müller, Johann Gotthard von
Romanet, Antoine
Saint-Non, Richard de
Schmutzer, Jakob Matthias
Schultze, Christian Gottfried
Solms-Laubach, Christiane Louise von
Vangelisti, Vincenzo
Verhelst, Egid (II)
Webber, John
Weirotter, Franz Edmund
Weisbrod, Carl
Wille, Pierre Alexandre
Zentner, J.L.L.C.
Followed by This field mentions the artist’s emulators. Although students can naturally also be followers, they are not mentioned again here. What is meant by followers are those who continue to work in the spirit of a predecessor. Sometimes this may happen a century later; there is no time limit. What is at issue, however, is that someone’s oeuvre must substantially follow in the manner of the artist emulated.: Bervic, Charles-Clément

Subjects This field specifies the various subject categories or genres that constitute the oeuvre of the artist in question. The contents of this field are generally based more on the documentation available at the RKD than on the literature.: genre, landscape (genre), portrait

Member of

Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (Parijs)
Agréé member: 30 August 1755 (Montaiglon 1885) Member: 24 July 1761 (Montaiglon 1886)

Literature

Literature in RKDLibrary: 6 hits in RKDlibrary as subject

Thieme/Becker 1907-1950 , vol. 36 (1947)
Gerson 1942/1983 , p. 70, 98, 99, 102, 103, 113, 240, 302-304, 306, 315, 327, 329, 330, 337, 338 en 359
Witt Checklist 1978 , p. 327 (as: Wille or Will, Johann Georg)
Turner et al. 1996
Bénézit 1999 , vol. 14, p. 618 (as: Wille, Johann Georg ou Jan Georg ou Will)
Saur 1999-2000 , vol. 10, p. 553 (as: Wille, Johann Georg (Wille, Jean-Georges))
Dugnat/Sanchez 2001 , vol. 5, p. 2531-2532

[Diderot], Almanach Historique et Raisonné des Architectes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs et Cizeleurs, Paris 1776, p77
Montaiglon (ed.), Procès-verbaux de l'Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture 1648-1793, t.6 (1885), p. 423
Montaiglon (ed.), Procès-verbaux de l'Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture 1648-1793, t.7 (1886), p. 170
G. Wuestman, 'Withered Nell or Rembrandt's aunt? Prints of tronies and their titles', Simiolus 32 (2006), p. 58-77 (in particular p. 72-74)
S. Brakensiek and M. Polfer (eds), Graphik als Spiegel der Malerei. Meisterwerke der Reproduktionsgraphik 1500-1830, exh. cat. Luxemburg (Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg) 2009, no. 87-89
C. Wiebel, 'An etching by the Abbé de Saint-Non after Wille', Print Quarterly 26 (2009) 2, p. 153-156
G. Maës, 'Dutch art collections and connoisseurship in the eighteenth century: the contributions of Dézallier d'Argenville and Descamps', Simiolus 34 (2009/2010), p. 226-238 (ill. of print by Wille after Gerard Dou on p. 235, no. 6)

Documentation RKD

This field specifies the location of the various RKD documentation materials. Most of the locations refer to our art-historical image documentation. In addition, you will find references to press documentation (clippings and short articles) here.

BD/0676 op: G. Dou, G. Netscher

Project: Gerson Digital : France
Gerson Digital : Germany
Marques de Collections (F. Lugt)

External links: Lugt (Marques de Collections) no. L.2577

Permalink: https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/84589

Creation date: 1992-02-01; Last modified date: 2023-02-09

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Johann Georg Wille

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