Friedrich Gauermann

FRIEDRICH GAUERMANN (Miesenbach, 1807 - 1862).
"Hunting scene".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
It presents Punctures and faults.
Measurements: 99 x 72 cm; 118 x 91 x 6 cm (frame).

The hunting scenes of the Austrian painter Friedrich Gauermann were specially celebrated, by the combination of wild landscapes and animals fighting to life or death. This is evident in this hunting scene where a deer is being defeated by a pack of dogs while a fawn manages to escape.

Friedrich Gauermann, Austrian painter, son of the landscape painter Jacob Gauermann (1773-1843), was born in Miesenbach near Gutenstein in southern Austria. Under his father's guidance he began landscape studies, also copying the works of the best in animal painting which were stored in the library of the academy and court in Vienna. In the summer he made art trips to the districts of Styria, the Tyrol and Salzburg. Two animal paintings which he exhibited at the Vienna exhibition of 1824 were seen as remarkable paintings for their years, and brought him to his reception commissions in 1825 and 1826 from Prince Metternich and Caraman, the French ambassador. His reputation was greatly enhanced by his painting "The Storm," exhibited in 1829, and from that time on his works were much sought after and commanded high prices. His "Labrador" was seen by many as the most significant picture in the Vienna exhibition of 1834, and his many paintings of animals have placed him as one of the best in the field. Many of his paintings have been engraved, and after his death a selection of 53 of his works were prepared for this purpose by the Austrian Kunstverein. In September 2007 the Austrian Post issued a postage stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth.