Franz Ignaz Oefele (26 June 1721, Posen - 18 September 1797, Munich) was a German painter,

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

, and miniaturist. His name is sometimes spelled "Öffele" and is occasionally seen as "Oeffele-Piekarski", for reasons unknown.

Life

His father was a watchmaker from Bavaria, who died before Oefele was a year old, so he was raised by an uncle in Landsberg am Lech who operated a brewery. There, apparently having displayed some artistic inclinations, he took lessons from a local painter, then went on to Ingolstadt, where he studied with and, finally, to Augsburg for lessons with Gottfried Bernhard Göz. He then went to work for

Balthasar Augustin Albrecht Balthasar Augustin Albrecht (1687– 1765) was a German painter. Life Albrecht, who was born at Berg, near Aufkirchen in Bavaria, in 1687, was a pupil of Nikolaus Gottfried Stuber, and studied in Venice and Rome. On his return to Germany in 17 ...

, the Bavarian court painter. in Munich. After some time there, working with several artists, he went to Venice and was accepted as a student by

Giuseppe Nogari Giuseppe Nogari (1699 – 3 December 1766) was an Italian painter of the Rococo. He painted mainly painted half-body portraits, either real or of historical and religious figures. They are striking for their emotional content, subdued decoration ...

. He remained there for six years, followed by studies with the English history painter John Parker and the Flemish painter Jan Frans van Bloemen in Rome. After eight years in Italy, he returned to Munich and became the court painter for

Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph, "the much beloved", (28 March 1727 – 30 December 1777) was a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Bavaria from 1745 to 1777. Biography Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of Holy Roman Empero ...

. In 1770, he helped to create and was appointed the first Professor of Drawing at what would later become the Academy of Fine Arts, with an annual salary of 100

Gulden ''Gulden'' is the historical German and Dutch term for gold coin (from Middle High German "golden penny" and Middle Dutch " golden florin"), equivalent to the English term guilder. Gulden, Gülden, Guldens or Gulden's may also refer to: Coins o ...

. He was also a member of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He painted primarily altarpieces and portraits. Several of his best-known portraits were made into copper engravings by Franz Xaver Jungwirth. Despite his apparent success, it is reported that he left his family in serious financial difficulties. His older cousin was the historian and librarian, Andreas Felix von Oefele.

References

External links

Auktionshaus Michael Zeller: A selection of his miniaturesMore works by Oefele
@ ArtNet
Polish Art Corner:
Portrait of Michał Suffczyński by Oefele {{DEFAULTSORT:Oefele, Franz Ignaz 1721 births 1797 deaths 18th-century German painters 18th-century German male artists German male painters Portrait painters

Life

References

Further reading

External links