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Franz Widnmann (1846 – 1910) was a German painter and

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

, and a professor at the Royal School of Applied Arts in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. Franz Widnmann was born 6 March 1846 at

Kipfenberg Kipfenberg is a town and municipality in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria, Germany. It is known for its hillside castle and fortress, and for being the geographical centre of Bavaria. The river Altmühl flows through the municipality and its ...

, a son to the court

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Eduard Widnmann who came from

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

. The family moved from Kipfenberg to

Schrobenhausen Schrobenhausen (; Central Bavarian: ''Schrobenhausn'') is a town in the district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the River Paar approx. south-west of Ingolstadt and north-east of Augsburg. The town hosts notable ...

. When his mother died early, his father married her sister. He first attended school in Schrobenhausen and then at a

Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

in Neuburg. From 1862 he attended the drawing school of the Verein zur Ausbildung des Gewerbes, and later the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

(School of Arts and Crafts or School of Applied Arts), in Munich, directed by Hermann Dyck. On 30 October 1862 he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at the Munich

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute o ...

for the antique class. His teachers were

Karl Theodor von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fat ...

Alexander Strähuber __NOTOC__ Alexander Strähuber or (Straehuber); (1814–1882) was an Austrian-born German history painter and book illustrator. From 1865 to 1882 he was a professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Strähuber was born on 28 Februa ...

Hermann Anschütz Hermann Anschütz (12 October 1802 – 30 August 1880) was a German painter and professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Anschütz was born in Koblenz. His father J ...

and Alexander Wagner. His early work was in decorative arts and design, collaborating on the publication ''Decorative Model'' published by Thienemann Verlag of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. His first painting, ''Duke Alba at the Castle of Countess Catharina von Schwarzburg'', won an award at the

1873 Vienna World's Fair ) , building = Rotunda , area = 233 Ha , invent = , visitors = 7,255,000 , organized = , cnt = , org = , biz = , country = Austria-Hungary , city ...

. As a student and, alongside

Karl von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fat ...

, Widnmann was commissioned to decorate the Pringsheim Palace in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He painted murals for the Munich palace of Prince Leopold of Bavaria and ''Homecoming from the Hunt'' for the

Schloss ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cognate ...

St Emmeram, of the Prince of

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

. A state

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

enabled Widnmann to spend time in Italy. In the 1880s he was exclusively occupied with works for the palaces of the Bavarian king

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

, especially for

Schloss Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipali ...

. During 1878 and 1886 he designed figurative decoration for facades, designs for stucco decoration, wall fillings,

girandole A girandole (; from French, in turn from Italian ''girandola'') is an ornamental branched candlestick or light fixture consisting of several lights, often resembling a small chandelier. Girandoles came into use about the second half of the 17th ce ...

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

porcelain chandeliers, crystal chandeliers (executed by Lobmeyr 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 ...

), and for clocks, writing instruments, centrepieces, and later, painting commissions. Further commissions were for the

Linderhof Palace Linderhof Palace (german: Schloss Linderhof) is a Schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near the village of Ettal. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed. Deve ...

. In 1881 he became the 'Royal Professor', and on 1 May 1892 was appointed professor of the life class at the Kunstgewerbeschule. After the death of Ludwig II. in 1886, he concentrated on graphic art, and was influenced in this by early 19th century artists including

Alfred Rethel Alfred Rethel (May 15, 1816December 1, 1859) was a German history painter. Early life and education Rethel was born in Aachen in 1816. He showed an interest in art in his early life, and at the age of thirteen he executed a drawing which procure ...

Moritz von Schwind image:Moritz von Schwind 2.jpg, 200px, Moritz von Schwind, c. 1860. Moritz von Schwind (21 January 1804 – 8 February 1871) was an Austrian painter, born in Vienna. Schwind's genius was lyrical—he drew inspiration from chivalry, folklore, and th ...

, Ludwig Richter and Ferdinand Barth. He also provided decorative design for public festivities, certificates, and stamp series for the Bavarian Post Office. In 1894 he designed the stained glass window of the Barfüßerkirche in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. He exhibited work in the Münchner Glaspalast. Franz Widnmann died 30 August 1910 in

Rodeneck Rodeneck (; it, Rodengo ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy. Geography Rodeneck borders the following municipalities: Kiens, Lüsen, Mühlbach, Natz-Schabs, St. Lorenzen and Vintl. In Rodeneck there are 7 municipal ...

in the

Puster Valley The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The Sou ...

. He was buried in the Old South Cemetery Munich."Franz Widnmann"
Find a Grave. Retrieved 4 January 2020

Publications

"Franz Widnmann"
in ''Kunst und Handwerk: Zeitschrift für Kunstgewerbe und Kunsthandwerk seit 1851'' (''Art and craft: Journal for Arts and Crafts since 1851''), Bayerischer Kunstgewerbe-Verein (Bavarian Arts and Crafts Association), R. Oldenbourg, Munich (1911), Volume 61 (1910–1911), Issue 12, pp. 361–375

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widnmann, Franz Artists from Munich 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 1846 births 1910 deaths