Epistolary exchanges, academic training, and social capital: Joseph Anton Koch at the Hohe Karlsschule in Stuttgart

This contribution discusses the epistolary exchanges of the Austrian painter Joseph Anton Koch (1768-1839) with his fellow academicians at the Hohe Karlsschule - which was not only the Ducal art academy and military school, but also a social experiment. The large number of Koch’s letters that have been preserved have played a significant role in the interpretation of his work. What they tell us about his time at the Karlsschule has not yet been subjected to serious scrutiny. This is all the more pertinent since recent research has shown that, throughout the early modern period, literary and intellectual academies played a key role in the establishment of networks, which often resulted in correspondence. In particular, it focuses on the question how this particularly progressive art academy in Stuttgart furnished him with a network that lasted throughout his life, and which provided him access not only to other artists, but also to potential patrons.