Lotz Károly Antal Pál, or Karl Anton Paul Lotz (16 December 1833 – 13 October 1904) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
-
Hungarian painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
.
Career
Karl Lotz was born in
Bad Homburg vor der
Höhe, Germany, the 7th and youngest surviving child of Wilhelm Christian Lotz and Antonia Höfflick (Höfflich). His father was a valet of Prince Gustav zu
Hessen-Homburg at the time when the prince was representing
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
at the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...
, which among other matters dealt with the House of Hessen-Homburg's rights of sovereignty over Hessen-Darmstadt. The sudden death of the young Baron von Sinclair, chargé d'affaires, forced W. C. Lotz temporarily into the rôle. While in Hungary in 1815 he made the acquaintance of the 13-year-old Antonie Hoefflich, whom he married three years later. She gave birth to 8 children, of whom Karl was the youngest.
W. C. Lotz died in 1837 and Antonie moved the family to
Pest (now one of the three constituent parts of
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
; the one on the east bank of the
River Danube). Karl attended the ''Piaristengymnasium'', where, although
Calvinist
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...
, he was awarded a scholarship for his exceptional academic performance. He began his artistic career as a pupil of the ''Hofkapellmeister'' Destouches, then in the academy of the Venetian master
Jakab Marastoni (1804–1860). Later he was a pupil of the historical painters
Henrik Weber (1818–1866) in Budapest and
Carl Rahl
Carl Rahl, sometimes spelled Karl Rahl (13 August 1812 – 9 July 1865), was an Austrian painter.
Life
Rahl was born in Vienna to Carl Heinrich Rahl (1779–1843), an engraver. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and won a prize at ...
(1812–1865) in Vienna.
Together with Rahl he worked on numerous commissions. Later he started on his own original works, first as a romantic landscape artist in scenes of the ''Alföld'' (the Hungarian lowland plain), and then as a creator of monumental murals and frescos in the style of the Venetian master
Tiepolo.
After various works in Budapest he became active in Vienna. He laid out plans for a grandiose palace, and completed murals commissioned by the Abbot of
Tihany Abbey for his abbey church on the shore of
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
. He became known for his portraits and nudes, for which both his wife and his daughters (Katarina in particular) posed. Lotz found married bliss only at the age of 58, when he married the widow Jacoboy, the former wife of his brother Paul Johann Heinrich, who had died in 1828. From then on he signed his works ''Károly Jacoboy-Lotz''.
In 1882 Lotz was appointed Professor at various art academies in Budapest, and in 1885 he became dean of a newly established department for women painters. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Pictorial Arts in Vienna.
His last important public commission was the "Apotheosis of the
Habsburg Dynasty
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
", a huge ceiling fresco in the Habsburg Room of the newly rebuilt
Royal Palace, that he painted in 1903, one year before his death. Lotz was already seriously ill when he worked on the fresco. The "Apotheosis" followed the traditions of Baroque court painting and the work was praised by contemporary critics. The fresco survived the war unscathed, but it was destroyed in the 1950s.
He died in 1904 in Budapest. As a "Prince of Hungarian Artists" he was given a state funeral and interred inside a memorial. His pictures, drawings and sketches were donated to the State of Hungary and are now in the
Szépművészeti Múzeum
The Museum of Fine Arts (, ) is a museum in Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Palace of Art.
It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an eclectic- neoclassical style , between 1900 and 1906. The mu ...
. Several Hungarian cities have streets named after him, there are Hungarian stamps bearing his likeness, and there is a bust in the National Museum in Budapest.
Painting works
* Ceiling of the
Budapest Opera (1884)
* Mural in the large ceremonial room of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...
in Budapest
* Mural in the stairways of the
Hungarian Parliament Building
The Hungarian Parliament Building ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Budapest after its location, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, a notable landmark of Hungary, and a popular tourist destination in Budapest. It is situated o ...
in Budapest (1897)
* Mural in
Hungarian National Museum in Budapest (1874)
* Mural in the ''Redoutensaal'' (Pesti Vigadó) of Budapest's main concert hall
* Mural in the casino of Theresienstadt (
TerezÃn), the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
* Ceiling and mural in the Stephansbasilika of Budapest as well as the seminary
* "Apotheosis of the Habsburg Dynasty", ceiling fresco in Buda Castle (1903, lost)
* Mural in the main market hall of Budapest
* Mural in the east railway station of Budapest
* Mural in the reading room of the library of
Budapest University
* Ceiling and mural in the ''Matthiaskirche'' (Church of St. Matthew) in Budapest
* Ceiling and mural in the Justice Palace of Budapest (1894)
* Mural in the Weapons Museum of the Arsenal in Budapest
* Frescos of the
Heinrichshof in Vienna (destroyed in
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
)
* Various works at the palace of
Earl Károlyi
* Various works at the palace of Baron Weckheim
* Various works at the palace of Baron Lipthay
* Mural for the
Tihany at
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
Gallery
File:Lotz Kornélia Lotz in White c. 1900.jpg, Kornélia Lotz in White (1900)
File:Lotz Károly Kornélia.jpg, Portrait of Kornélia Lotz (1890)
File:Károly Lotz (1833-1904) Soring, Portrait of Ilona Lippich 1894.jpg, Soring : Portrait of Ilona Lippich (1894)
File:Lotz Portrait of a Young Lady.jpg, Portrait of a Young Lady
File:Lotz Ploughing at Spring.jpg, Ploughing at Spring
File:Bazilika kupola.jpg, The mosaic of the Saint Stephen's Basilica in Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
File:Lotz Watering the Horses on the Puszta 1860s.jpg, Watering the Horses on the Puszta
Quotes
References
* Austrian Biographical Lexicon: ''
Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon'' (''ÖBL'') 1815-1950, Bd. 5 (Lfg. 24), p. 332
(de)
External links
*
*
Detailed Biography of Károly Lotz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotz, Karoly
Painters from Austria-Hungary
19th-century German painters
19th-century male artists
German male painters
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
Academic art
People from Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
1833 births
1904 deaths
Burials at Kerepesi Cemetery