Hans Jakob Oeri’s work on show for the first time

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Self portrait, around 1820, oil on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

The Studio in Paris, around 1807, oil on paper/plywood Hans Jakob Oeri (second from the right) with his twin brother Hans Oeri (second from the left), their brother Hans Georg Oeri (left) and his artist friend David Sulzer SIK-ISEA, Zürich (Philipp Hitz)

Chloe, 1806/1808, oil on canvas Kunsthaus Zürich

Moscow in Winter, 1809/1812, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Inside a Russian Farmhouse, 1812/1817, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Russian Church Service, 1812/1817, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Russian Farmers Building a Log Cabin, 1812/1817, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Russian Sleigh Ride, 1812/1817, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Russian Dance, 1812/1817, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Portrait of Johanna Goldschmied-Oeri in the 1830s, black chalk on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Portrait of Emerentiana Zimmermann-Oeri, around 1820, black chalk on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Portrait of the artist’s father, Hans Georg Oeri, around 1820, black chalk on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Portrait of an elegant young woman, black chalk on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

The Fight between Zellweger and Wetter in Herisau 1732, 1832, watercolour and gouache on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

Garden Side of Trittligasse with View of Lake Zurich, around 1848, oil on canvas Kunsthaus Zürich

Return of Zurich Soldiers from the Battle of Dättwil 1351, 1851, oil on canvas Kunsthaus Zürich

Bauschanze in Zurich on the Arrival of a Steamship, 1866, gouache over pencil on paper Kunsthaus Zürich

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“Hans Jakob Oeri – A Swiss Artist in Paris, Moscow, Zurich” runs at the Kunsthaus in Zurich until October 23, 2016. It is the first exhibition to feature this long underappreciated and forgotten artist and draughtsman.

Oeri was born in Kyburg, canton Zurich, into an aristocratic family of artists in 1782. As a young man he trained with landscape painter Johann Kaspar Kuster (1747-1818) in Winterthur for three years. He then travelled to Paris, where he studied at the renowned École des Beaux-Arts. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), a Jacobin and friend of Maximilien de Robespierres, became his teacher and mentor there.

In 1809, Oeri decided to go to Moscow. He spent almost eight years in Russia as a portrait painter and art teacher. In 1812, the troops of Napoleon conquered Moscow, the city burnt down almost completely and about 10,000 Russian soldiers died. Oeri recorded this event in the form of a unique painting, which can now be seen in Zurich. Then he went to Kazan under the patronage of Russian prince Mikhail Mussin-Pushkin (1795-1862).

Oeri returned to Zurich in 1817 and became an active member of Zurich’s artist society. Among other things, he produced so-called “costume studies” – a series of 1,468 drawings of authentic historical costumes from different eras. Oeri died in Zurich in 1868.

“Hans Jakob Oeri – A Swiss Artist in Paris, Moscow, Zurich”External link features paintings, portraits, watercolours, gouaches, drawings and prints. Some of the exhibited works are on loan from private collectors, while others belong to Kunsthaus Zürich.

(Pictures: Hans Jakob Oeri / Kunsthaus Zürich)