Ferdinand Waldmüller

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, January 15, 1793–August 23, 1865, was an Austrian painter born in Vienna. He studied intermittently at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1807 to 1813 under Hubert Maurer and Johann Baptist Lampi, supported himself as a portrait miniaturist, and worked as a drawing teacher and theatrical scene painter.

He returned to Vienna in 1817 and painted portraits, landscapes, genre scenes, and still lifes. He joined the teaching staff of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, advocated direct study of nature, and also taught privately; his students included Hans Canon, Anton Romako, and Adam Brenner.

His proposals to reform academic instruction brought him into conflict with the Academy; he lost his studio in 1850 and was suspended in 1857. After renewed international exhibitions, Emperor Franz Joseph rehabilitated him in 1864; Waldmüller died in Hinterbrühl in 1865, and major holdings of his work are preserved at the Belvedere and Wien Museum.

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