// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did Susette Hirzel's cat join a band? Because it wanted to be a purr-cussionist.
Susette Hirzel | |
|---|---|
| Born | Susanna Hirzel 10 January 1769 Zurich, Switzerland |
| Died | 9 January 1858 (aged 88) Zurich, Switzerland |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Known for | Portrait painting |
| Spouse | Hans Conrad Ott |
Susanna Hirzel, known as Susette Hirzel (10 January 1769 – 9 January 1858), was a Swiss portrait painter from Zurich.[1][2] Born into a prominent Zurich family, she was active mainly during the 1790s and exhibited with the Zürcher Künstlergesellschaft in 1799 and 1801.[1][3] Her known artistic activity lasted roughly ten years, and no work by her is documented after 1801.[1][3] Hirzel is regarded as an important Swiss woman artist of her generation.[1]
Biography
[edit]Susanna Hirzel, known as Susette Hirzel, was born in Zurich on 10 January 1769.[1][2] She was the daughter of Hans Conrad Hirzel, who held civic offices in Zurich, and Susanna Escher vom Glas.[1] She was the fourth of five children and grew up in Zurich and at the family estate Zum Traubenberg in Zollikon.[3]
Hirzel showed artistic ability early, but her training remained informal.[3] Her family supported her interest in art, and her brother Caspar sent her engravings by well-known artists to copy.[3] She briefly studied with Johann Balthasar Bullinger the Elder and, from 1790, was taught by the German portrait painter August Friedrich Oelenhainz, who was then living in Zurich.[1][3]
During the 1790s, Hirzel was active as a portrait painter, and in 1799 and 1801 she took part in exhibitions of the Zürcher Künstlergesellschaft.[1] As a woman from a prominent family, she could not accept commissions or sell her pictures, and her artistic activity declined around 1800.[3] In 1801, she married Hans Conrad Ott, a Zurich councillor,[1][2] and widower with two sons.[3] No artistic activity by Hirzel is documented after that date.[1] She died in Zurich on 9 January 1858.[1][2]
Work
[edit]Hirzel worked as a portrait painter.[1][2] Her known artistic activity lasted roughly ten years.[3] During the 1790s, she painted many portraits of people in her family and wider social circle.[1] She also portrayed prominent Zurich figures, including David Hess and Salomon Landolt.[1]
Only a limited part of Hirzel’s work is publicly accessible today, as many works are lost and most of the remaining works are privately owned.[3] Her portraits have been associated with sensibility and Classicism, with an emphasis on individual character rather than social rank.[3] She is regarded as an important Swiss woman artist of her generation.[1]
Works by Hirzel are held by the City of Biel Art Collection, Kunsthaus Zürich and the Graphische Sammlung of the Zentralbibliothek Zürich.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Oberli, Matthias (9 November 2009). "Susette Hirzel". Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) (in German). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Profile Archived 2017-08-10 at the Wayback Machine in the Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Greter, Ruth (2017). "Susette Hirzel". SIKART Lexikon zur Kunst in der Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
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