Alexander originally Sándor von Wagner (April 16, 1838 – January 19, 1919) was a Hungarian painter.

Biography

Wagner was born in

Pesth Pest () is the eastern, mostly flat part of Budapest, Hungary, comprising about two-thirds of the city's territory. It is separated from Buda and Óbuda, the western parts of Budapest, by the Danube River. Among its most notable sights are the ...

. After graduating from the Real-Gymnasium in his hometown at the age of nineteen, he entered 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 o ...

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

, where he was a student of

Henrik Weber Henrik Wéber known as Henrik Weber (24 May 1818, in Pest – 14 May 1866, in Pest) was a Hungarian portrait and history painter in the Realism movement. He is considered as one of the most important Hungarian painters of the Biedermeier peri ...

. The following year, he switched to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at

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 ...

and was taught by Professor

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 ...

from 1856 to 1864. From 1869 to 1910 he was professor in

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

at the Munich Academy. His themes were history paintings and Hungarian life scenes in particular. A portrait of Von Wagner painted by

Franz Lachner Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 1803 – 20 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, Theodor and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with Si ...

belongs to the collection of the Gebrüder-Lachner-Museum in

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

since 2003. Among his students were

Pál Szinyei Merse Pál Szinyei Merse (4 July 1845, Szinyeújfalu - 2 February 1920, Jernye) was a Hungarian painter and art educator. Biography He was born into a family of the old nobility who supported the Hungarian Revolution. Because of the political unr ...

Emil Wiesel Emíl Wíesel (1 March 1866, Saint-Petersburg – 2 May 1943, Leningrad) – a painter, museum curator and a board member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Russia (since 1914), organizer of international art exhibitions, councilor of Hermitage Mu ...

Anton Ažbe Anton Ažbe (30 May 1862 – 5 or 6 August 1905) was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting. Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of 8, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienna and ...

Franciszek Żmurko Franciszek Żmurko (18 July 1859, Lviv – 9 October 1910, Warsaw) was a Polish realist painter. Żmurko began drawing lessons as a young boy in his hometown with the painter Franciszek Tepa. As an adolescent he relocated to Kraków to study at ...

. Von Wagner died in Munich, where he is buried in the Old Southern Cemeterey.

Works

His most famous work is ''The Chariot Race'' (now at the

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three c ...

), which he painted for the Vienna Exposition (1873) and then expanded to a larger size for the Columbian Exposition (Chicago Fair) of 1893. The painting depicts the close of a

chariot A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

race in the

Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and lar ...

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, presided over by Emperor

Domitian Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavi ...

. ''Chariot Race ''was completed in 1882 just two years after the publication of Ben-Hur. The painting depicts the loss of a wheel of a chariot at the height of the race. In the original book the wheel is "crushed", in the painting it is shown intact spinning off to the left. In the painting ''After the Hunt'' (1864) Wagner portrayed his wife Bertha von Oldenburg in the circle of an elegant company of hunters, dressed in the historical costumes from the period of Mathias Corvinus. Another famous work was a round panorama of old

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, titled ''Das alte Rom mit dem Triumphzuge Kaiser Constantin’s im Jahre 312 n.Chr.'', which he painted in cooperation with

Josef Bühlmann Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

in Munich in 1888. The painting was destroyed, and repainted by Yadegar Asisi in the

Leipzig Panometer The Leipzig Panometer is an attraction in Leipzig, Germany. It is a visual panorama displayed inside a former gasometer, accompanied by a thematic exhibition. The current theme is "Carolas Garten". The Panometer was created in 2003 by the Aus ...

.''Rome CCCXII''
/ref> ;Further works (selection) * ''After the Hunt (Mathias Corvinus)'' * ''Titusz Dugovics opfert sich in der Schlacht um Belgrad'' (''Titusz Dugovics Sacrifices himself in the Battle of Belgrade''), 1859 * ''Königin Izabella's Abschied aus Transsylvanien'' (''Queen Izabella's farewell from Transylvania'') * ''Markttag'' * ''Mátyás besiegt Holubár'' (''Mátyás defeats Holubár'', fresco),

Hungarian State Opera House The Hungarian State Opera House ( hu, Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of ...

, 1865 * ''Pferdetrieb auf der Hortobagyer Puszta in Ungarn'', around 1880 * ''Das Wagenrennen'', 1882, today in the Manchester Art Gallery * ''Wagenrennen im Circus Maximus in Rom zur Zeit des Domitian'' * ''Ungarisches Fuhrwerk'' * decoration of the "Saal der Republiken" (hall of the republics),

Hamburg Rathaus Hamburg City Hall (german: link=no, Hamburger Rathaus, ) is the seat of local government of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany. It is the seat of the government of Hamburg and as such, the seat of one of Germany's 16 state parliame ...

, 1899 "The Chariot Race" (Manchester Art Gallery, England)

References and notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Alexander von 19th-century Austrian painters 19th-century Hungarian painters Austrian male painters 20th-century Austrian painters 20th-century Hungarian painters Hungarian expatriates in Austria Hungarian nobility People from Pest, Hungary 1838 births 1919 deaths Academy of Fine Arts, Munich faculty Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni 19th-century painters of historical subjects 19th-century German male artists 20th-century Austrian male artists