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The Austrian Friedrich August Matthias Gauermann, born in 1807, was a great landscape painter of the Biedermeier period. His father, Jakob Gauermann, was an engraver and also a painter, and so Friedrich and his older brother Carl were taught and encouraged in painting from an early age. Friedrich Gauermann was a member of the Vienna Academy and honorary citizen of the city.
From 1824-1827 Gauermann went to the landscape class at the Vienna Academy, where his talent was further developed. His studies of nature on numerous trips to the Alps also supported him in landscape painting. Trips to the Salzkammergut, Dresden, Munich and northern Italy also broadened his horizons. Friedrich Gauermann was one of the first painters to succeed in depicting the Alpine landscape directly and realistically. His pictures were characterized above all by their light and mood effects. His special talent also became apparent when painting thunderstorm scenes. After 1830 he began to populate the landscape pictures with animals, which he also succeeded excellently in doing through his studies of nature. This also became a special distinguishing feature of his pictures. His good reputation as an animal painter reached as far as England and his paintings sold well in other European countries as well. At the Vienna Art Exhibition in 1838 Gauermann was listed as the leading artist of landscape painting. Until the 1840s he earned very well with this kind of paintings. After another ten years, the taste of the times gradually changed and the demand declined.
Despite his successes, Friedrich Gauermann remained modest. His love belonged to the mountains all his life. Gauermann died in 1862 in Vienna and was buried in his home town. A museum and a memorial stone there still remind us today of the talented nature painter.
The Austrian Friedrich August Matthias Gauermann, born in 1807, was a great landscape painter of the Biedermeier period. His father, Jakob Gauermann, was an engraver and also a painter, and so Friedrich and his older brother Carl were taught and encouraged in painting from an early age. Friedrich Gauermann was a member of the Vienna Academy and honorary citizen of the city.
From 1824-1827 Gauermann went to the landscape class at the Vienna Academy, where his talent was further developed. His studies of nature on numerous trips to the Alps also supported him in landscape painting. Trips to the Salzkammergut, Dresden, Munich and northern Italy also broadened his horizons. Friedrich Gauermann was one of the first painters to succeed in depicting the Alpine landscape directly and realistically. His pictures were characterized above all by their light and mood effects. His special talent also became apparent when painting thunderstorm scenes. After 1830 he began to populate the landscape pictures with animals, which he also succeeded excellently in doing through his studies of nature. This also became a special distinguishing feature of his pictures. His good reputation as an animal painter reached as far as England and his paintings sold well in other European countries as well. At the Vienna Art Exhibition in 1838 Gauermann was listed as the leading artist of landscape painting. Until the 1840s he earned very well with this kind of paintings. After another ten years, the taste of the times gradually changed and the demand declined.
Despite his successes, Friedrich Gauermann remained modest. His love belonged to the mountains all his life. Gauermann died in 1862 in Vienna and was buried in his home town. A museum and a memorial stone there still remind us today of the talented nature painter.