Franz Steinfeld (26 March 1787 – 5 November 1868) was an Austrian landscape painter. He is often referred to as "The Younger", to distinguish him from his father, also named Franz (1750-1832), who was a sculptor.

Life and work

Steifeld was born on 26 March 1787 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He initially studied sculpting with his father but, at the suggestion of the engraver, Francesco Vasanova (1727-1802), he was enrolled at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

. There, he studied with

Laurenz Janscha Laurenz Janscha, originally Lovro Janša (30 June 1749, Bresnitz - 1 April 1812, Vienna) was a Slovenian-born Austrian landscape painter and engraver. Life and work He was born to a farmer, Matija Janša (1683–1752), and his wife Lucia, né ...

, and

Albert Christoph Dies Albert Christoph Dies (175528 December 1822) was a German painter, engraver, and biographer most noted for his biography of Joseph Haydn, although it is now considered sentimental and not entirely accurate. As an artist, he is also not very well ...

. In 1805, he went on a study trip to the

Rheinland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

s and the Netherlands, where he was attracted to the works of

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achi ...

. In 1815, he married Dorothea Fertbauer; from a family of artists. Her brother, Leopold (1802-1875), was a

history painter History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

. Their son, Wilhelm (1816-1854), also became an artist. From 1815 to 1835, Steinfeld served as a

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

for Archduke Anton Viktor. His first exhibit at the Academy came in 1822, and he was named a member the following year. He became a Professor in 1845. As an instructor, he encouraged drawing and painting from nature (" en plein aire") and sought to have the windows at the Academy enlarged to provide more light. He made numerous trips throughout Italy, Germany and Switzerland, and an extended stay in Belgium with

Josef Danhauser Josef Danhauser (19 August 1805 in Laimgrube (now a part of Mariahilf or Neubau) – 4 May 1845) was an Austrian painter, one of the main artists of Biedermeier period, together with Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Peter Fendi, among others. His wor ...

. He died during a visit to

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

on 5 November 1868 in

Písek Písek (; german: Pisek) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Písek is colloquially called "''South ...

. In 1901, a street in Vienna's Heiligenstadt district was named after him. Although mostly a landscape painter, he also created

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s and

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

s. He was among the earliest painters to work in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, and helped bring a more Classical approach to landscapes. He was also one of the first artists in that genre to introduce the

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

style.

Sources

* * * C. Wiesboeck: "Franz Steinfeld", Obituary. In: ''Zeitschriften'' (Archiv für die zeichnenden Künste mit besonderer Beziehung auf Kupferstecher- und Holzschneidekunst und ihre Geschichte) Vol.15. pg.102 ff. * Sonja Menches: ''Franz Steinfeld'' (exhibition catalog), Giese und Schweiger, Vienna, 2016.

External links

More works by Steinfeld
@ ArtNet * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinfeld, Franz 1787 births 1868 deaths Painters from Vienna 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Austrian male artists Austrian male painters