Johann Jakob Falkeisen

Johann Jakob Falkeisen
Born	1804 Basel, Swiss
Died	1883 Basel, Swiss
Nationality	Switzerland
Known for	Painting

Johann Jakob Falkeisen (born 1804 in Basel) is a swiss artist painter and engraver.

Biography

After studying in Paris, Falkeisen went to Milan to further his career as an artist and worked under Giovanni Migliara (1785-1837) and Louis Cherbuin (1810-1875) until 1838. Falkeisen took the opportunity to travel to Bursa in 1843, visiting Athens and Constantinople, to work in his family’s silk factory which was being run by his brother, who was also the Austrian Consul for Bursa. The Falkeisen family bought the factory, together with Tasciyan, an Armenian dragoman from the British Embassy, from a French entrepreneur called M. Glaizal, who had started the enterprise in 1837. The Falkeisen factory was the first steam-powered silk-spinning factory in Bursa and manufactured silk thread. Johann Falkeisen lived in Turkey until 1855 when the family factory was destroyed by fire as a result of an earthquake and he returned to Basel. He then joined the fledgling Kunstmuseum in Basel where he worked as a curator.

Bibliography

• XXV vedute dei luoghi i più interessanti del lago di Como disegnate dal vero ed incise di Johann Jakob Falkeisen, Ed. L. Ronchi, 1839
• Janet E. Buerger, French daguerreotype, International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Alice Swan, 1989, ISBN 9780226079851
• A Collection of Watercolours by Johann Jakob Falkeisen (1803-1883) A Swiss Artist in the Ottoman Empire, Ed. Karen Taylor Fine Art, 2018