Groot Georg Christoph (Grooth Georg Christoph)

January 10, 1716 (Stuttgart) - September 17, 1749 (St. Petersburg)

painter and graphic artist.

born in the family shtugartskogo court painter of the Dukes of Wurttemberg, curator art gallery Ludwigsburg I. H. Groot, elder brother of animal artist I. F. Groot, also worked in Russia .

initial artistic training was under the leadership of his father, then studied with various masters of Ludwigsburg.

In 1736-1737, together with the artists JF Weisbrod and IB Ferradini was brought to decorating and painting the house comedy in Ludwigsburg. In the second half of 1730-s studied at the Saxon court painter A. cassava in Dresden. In 1739-1740 he worked in Danzig. Was a member of the guild of painters in Prague. In 1740 at the invitation of Governor-General V. Levendalya arrived in Revel, was recommended Levendalem regent Anna Leopoldovna in 1741 adopted the Russian service as a court painter.

In 1742, together with L. Caravaque and I. Ya Vishnyakov participated in the design of the coronation in Moscow. In 1743 appointed an inspector of the Imperial Art Gallery, was engaged in storage and restoration of paintings, as well as adding to the collection. In 1745 in Prague, was acquired collection of 112 works for the Tsarskoe Selo palace.

in 1742-1746 created several portraits of Empress Elizabeth, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Catherine Alekseevny. The most famous among them "Portrait of Elizabeth on horseback with blackamoor" widely distributed in copies, as well as porcelain plastic, which is made at Meissen factory. From 1743 on the instructions of the Academy of Sciences and Arts was required to oversee the implementation of copies of their works in painting (IE Grimmel), engraving (IA Sokolov, I. Shtenglin) and miniature (Shtenglin ). Performed a number of portraits of courtiers - PI Shuvalov, VF in Bergholz, IG Lestocq, Demidov, VV ; Dolgorukova, P. Sheremetyev, family portraits Kurakins. In 1748-1749, together with G. Weber wrote the icons for the Church of the Ascension in Tsarskoe Selo. Among the Russian students of the artist - IP Argunov, K. Bielawski and others.

Georg Christoph Groot - one of the leading painters of the mid-XVIII century in Russia, had added to the Russian painting features of European Rococo. He worked mainly as a portraitist, the most expressive in its artistic heritage of the ceremonial cloth of small forms and the so-called "small" portrait-painting. His art is inherent in seclusion, the desire to reveal mental world of man, lightness, frivolity in some cases, treatment, refinement of colors. Pictures of the Grotto, in the words of the historian's art OS Evangulovoy, "by themselves look as a result of gaming venture - descent of a large ceremonial images to melenkogo pleasant decorations ... this metamorphosis is fraught with the reduction of public to private, formal -- to the chamber, serious - the fun ».

Groot works are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, State Hermitage Museum-Preserve "Pavlovsk", Museum-Reserve "Oranienbaum, the Museum-estate" Kuskovo "Kiev Museum of Russian Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, the State Art Museum of Estonia in Tallinn, and others.