Christoph J. W. C. J. Haller v. Hallerstein

1771 Hilpoltstein – 1839 Nuremberg

Born into a wealthy patrician family from Nuremberg, Christoph Haller von Hallerstein originally studied law at Altdorf before dedicating himself to the arts. He seems to have started his artistic career as an autodidact; early drawings and his first etchings dating to 1785 suggest that Haller might have derived inspiration from works by Salomon Gessner. He was taught to draw by Christoph Zwinger and soon became involved in the Nürnberger Kunstverein, of which he became a member in 1792. During the next two decades Haller undertook numerous journeys to Switzerland, Stuttgart, Dresden and Paris. From 1800 to 1808 he stayed in Berlin and instructed the crown prince and future king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, in drawing as well as the future foreign minister of the Holy Roman Empire, Clemens von Metternich, and Prince Anton von Radziwill in the art of printmaking. In 1818 he was appointed curator of the Royal Gallery of Paintings in Nuremberg and in 1823 professor for the art of perspective at the local art school.