Johann Gebhard Flatz (11 June 1800 in

Wolfurt Wolfurt is a municipality in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Population References External links Municipal home page
Cities and towns in Bregenz District {{Vorarlberg-geo-stub ...

– 19 May 1881 in

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

) was an Austrian painter of the

Nazarene movement The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of c ...

Life and work

Education

He was the eleventh child of a baker and, as might be expected, spent his childhood in poverty. Nevertheless, his talent was recognized at school and he was able to obtain a painting apprenticeship, which he completed at age fifteen. The following year, he travelled to Vienna to become a journeyman painter. During this time, he had to support himself as a waiter and house-painter and was only able to attend art classes on Sunday. After four years of struggle, he was finally accepted by the

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 ...

, but often had to go hungry to pay his fees. In 1827 he left Vienna, working in

and Innsbruck, where he produced and sold over 150 portraits in 1829.

Life in Rome and Innsbruck

He eventually saved enough money to take a trip to Rome, where he soon became involved with the Nazarene movement. When he became financially stable, he began moving between Rome and Innsbruck, occasionally taking students.Albrecht Weiland: "Der Campo Santo Teutonico" in ''Rom und seine Grabdenkmäler''. Vol. I, Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, In 1838, he married Marie Felicitas Freiin von Foullon-Norbeck. Both of their children died shortly after birth. Marie also died a few weeks after the second delivery, in 1840. Flatz never completely recovered from this triple blow and began painting only hesitantly after a year had passed. He had an epitaph to his wife placed on the grounds of the

Campo Santo Teutonico The Teutonic Cemetery ( it, Cimitero Teutonico, "Camposanto of the Teutons and the Flemish") is a burial site adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Burial is reserved for members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of the German Cemetery ...

, of which he was a member. Following the Capture of Rome in 1870, he moved to

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label= Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the ...

. His last years were spent in a retirement home near the parish church of Bregenz, where he was honored as "the Catholic painter of his time" and was awarded the

Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...

in 1879.Christoph Bertsch, et al.: ''Gebhard Flatz''. Exhibition catalog, May 1–23, 1982, in Wolfurt. Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, Bregenz, 1982

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flatz, Gebhard 1800 births 1881 deaths Nazarene movement 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century German male artists Austrian male painters

Life and work

Education

Life in Rome and Innsbruck

References

Further reading

External links