oseph Josefovich Charlemagne
(St. Petersburg 1824 - St. Petersburg 1870)
Ice Fair on the Neva River, St. Petersburg
Biography
Joseph Josefovich Charlemagne was born in St. Petersburg in 1824. He is the brother of the History painter Adolphe Josefovich Charlemagne. He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Alexandr Pavlovich Bryullov (1798-1877) and graduated in 1846. Charlemagne subsequently worked as an architectural assistant, and was awarded in 1850 by the Academy the title of ‘Artist of the First Degree’ for his architectural drawings, and in 1857 that of ‘Academician for Architecture’. However, it was his watercolours, more than his work as a draughtsman and architect, which earned him the greatest public recognition, and led him to execute commissions for the Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna (1839-1891) among others.