Ludwig Michalek - Selbstportraet - Radierung - 1899 Detail

Ludwig Michalek (13 April 1859, Temeswar - 24 September 1942,

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

) was an Austrian portrait painter, graphic artist and

copper engraver Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

Life and work

His father was a railroad engineer. In 1873, after graduating from the

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

Brünn Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inha ...

, he became a student 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 ...

, where his primary instructors were

August Eisenmenger August Eisenmenger (11 February 1830 – 7 December 1907) was an Austrian painter of portraits and historical subjects. Life He was born in Vienna. At the age of fifteen, Eisenmenger was already a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and ...

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg's leading families. As a young man, he heeded the advice of his f ...

and

Carl Wurzinger Carl Wurzinger (1 June 1817, Vienna - 16 March 1883, Vienna) was an Austrian history painter and a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Life and work His father was the caretaker for an estate. In 1832, at the age of fourteen, he beca ...

. This was followed, in 1876, by studies with the graphic artist, Louis Jacoby. Numerous study trips took him to Italy, France, the Low Countries and Germany. He married the pianist, Lili Bailetti, in 1883. They had two daughters. From 1884 to 1887, he worked as an assistant at the Vienna Academy; in the classes for "Drawing from Life". He received an "honorable mention" at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

in 1888, and a gold medal at the

Große Berliner Kunstausstellung Große Berliner Kunstausstellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition), abbreviated GroBeKa or GBK, was an annual art exhibition that existed from 1893 to 1969 with intermittent breaks. In 1917 and 1918, during World War I, it was not held in Berlin bu ...

in 1896. The following year, he was one of the founders of the

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 ...

classes at the new where, after 1898, he also taught the classes for nude drawing and nature studies. In 1909, the Ministry of Labor appointed him a Professor at the Higher Federal Institution for Graphic Education and Research. He held that position until 1920, but also gave secondary courses in etching at the "Frauenkunstschule" (Women's Art School), a division of the Academy. He was a long-time member of the

Vienna Künstlerhaus The Künstlerhaus in Vienna’s 1st district has accommodated the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung since 1868. It is located in the Ringstrassenzone in between Akademiestraße, Bösendorferstraße and Musikvereinsplatz. The building was erected betw ...

and, in 1936, was awarded their Silver Jubilee Medal. He is best remembered for several series of etchings and engravings; depicting composers, poets, scenery, technical subjects, and various things relating to the Austrian Alpine railways. He also made reproductions of the old masters, as well as portraits of contemporary notables, rendered in

pastels A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

. He died during the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, aged eighty-three. Two months after his death, his estate was put up for auction at the

Dorotheum The Dorotheum () is one of the world's oldest auction houses and is the largest auction house of art items in Continental Europe. Established by Emperor Joseph I in 1707, it has its headquarters in Vienna on the Dorotheergasse and branches in o ...

. Online @ ANNO In 1943, a street in Vienna's

Ottakring Ottakring () is the 16th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 16. Bezirk, Ottakring). It is located west of the central districts, north of Penzing and south of Hernals. Ottakring has some heavily populated urban areas with many resid ...

district was named after him.

References

External links

*
More works by Michalek
@ ArtNet
Michalek's portraits of German composers
@ AKG Images. {{DEFAULTSORT:Michalek, Ludwig 1859 births 1942 deaths Austrian painters Austrian portrait painters Austrian engravers Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Artists from Timișoara

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links