Anton Zwengauer (11 October 1810 – 13 June 1884) was a German painter of the

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

period.

Life

Zwengauer was born in Munich, Bavaria. He studied at the

Academy of Art 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 ...

in his home town under, among others, Peter von Cornelius. Zwengauer found himself attracted to landscape painting, in which there was no formal training at the Academy, and at the age of 17 he therefore began to travel through the Bavarian and

Austrian Alps The Central Eastern Alps (german: Zentralalpen or Zentrale Ostalpen), also referred to as Austrian Central Alps (german: Österreichische Zentralalpen) or just Central Alps, comprise the main chain of the Eastern Alps in Austria and the adjacent ...

, returning from each trip with large quantities of sketches and watercolours. His artistic breakthrough came with his painting ''Sonnenuntergang im Dachauer Moos'' ("Sunset in the Dachauer Moos"), which immediately became well-known and much-discussed in the Munich art world. His sunsets became so well known that all paintings with sunsets were referred to, half admiringly and half ironically, as "Zwengauers". In 1835 Maximilian II, King of Bavaria, appointed him conservator of the picture gallery of Schloss Schleissheim and in 1869 promoted him to the same post in the royal picture gallery, the later Alte Pinakothek. In the selection of his motifs Zwengauer always tried to represent the inherent strength and peace of natural landscapes in an almost solemn mood. He often painted sunsets, in which he aimed to achieve impressive effects of light and colour by simple means. Zwengauer died aged 73 on 13 June 1884 in Munich and is buried in the

Alter Südfriedhof The Alter Südfriedhof (''Old South Cemetery'') also known as "Alter Südlicher Friedhof" is a cemetery in Munich, Germany. It was founded by Duke Albrecht V as a plague cemetery in 1563 about half a kilometer south of the Sendlinger Ga ...

.Münchner Friedhöfe
A street in Solln in south Munich - Zwengauerweg - is named after him. The landscape painter Anton Georg Zwengauer was his son, the Bavarian Lieutenant-General Karl Zwengauer his grandson.

Selected works

* ''Nachtmahl auf dem Berg'' ("Supper on the Mountain") (1841) * ''Herbstabend mit Hirsch am Wasser'' ("Autumn Evening with Deer by Water"):

Neue Pinakothek The Neue Pinakothek (, ''New Pinacotheca'') is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th centuries, and it is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world. Together with th ...

, Munich * ''Benediktenwand im Abendlicht'' (" Benediktenwand in the Evening Light"): Pinakothek, Munich * ''Die vier Tageszeiten'' ("The Four Times of the Day") * ''Hirsche am See nach Sonnenuntergang'' ("Deer by a Lake after Sunset") -

Museum der bildenden Künste The Museum der bildenden Künste (German: "Museum of Fine Arts") is a museum in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. It covers artworks from the Late Middle Ages to Modernity. History Museum Foundation and First Museum The museum dates back to the fo ...

, Leipzig

References

Literature

* 1810 births 1884 deaths 19th-century German painters German male painters Painters from Munich Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof 19th-century German male artists {{Germany-painter-stub