Anton Faistauer (14 February 1887, Sankt Martin bei Lofer – 13 February 1930,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

) was an Austrian

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter.

Life

He came from a family of farmers, grew up near Maishofen and originally wanted to be a priest. After a meeting with Albert Paris Gütersloh while he was attending the Gymnasium in

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

, however, he became interested in painting.Brief biography
@ the Landesmuseum Niederösterreich website. From 1904 to 1906, he attended a private art school operated by Robert Scheffer in Vienna, then transferred to 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 ...

where he studied with

Alois Delug Alois Delug (25 May 1859 – 17 September 1930) was an Austrian painter and a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. He may be remembered best for his supposed role in rejecting Adolf Hitler's application to join the academy. Life A ...

and

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor, best known for rejecting Adolf Hitler's application to train at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg (cit ...

. In 1909 he resigned from the Academy and, together with Anton Kolig, , Franz Wiegele and

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painters, painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude sel ...

, became one of the founders of the "", to protest the Academy's conservative attitudes. From 1909 to 1912, he travelled to

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

, Northern Italy and Berlin and exhibited widely. In 1913, he married Ida Andersen, the sister of his friend Robin. Because of World War I, he moved back to Maishofen in 1915. Nevertheless, he was forced to do military service from 1916 to 1918 with the

k.u.k. The phrase Imperial and Royal (, ) refers to the court/government of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective. Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. During that period, it ind ...

-Infanterieregiment Nr. 59; although he served unarmed, due to "unsuitability". After July 1917, he was stationed at the

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum The Museum of Military History – Military History Institute () in Vienna is the leading museum of the Austrian Armed Forces. It documents the history of Austrian military affairs through a wide range of exhibits comprising, above all ...

"for special purposes", where he helped organize war art exhibitions with his old friend Schiele.Ilse Krumpöck: "Anton Faistauers militärische Nichtsnutzigkeit", in: ''Schriftenreihe zu Anton Faistauer und seiner Zeit''. Published by the Anton Faistauer Forum, Maishofen, 2007

The post-war period

After the war he lived in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

where, with Felix Albrecht Harta and others, he founded another radical art group, "". His wife died the night before their first exhibition. Two years later, he remarried. By 1925, he was suffering from lung and stomach disorders and made several therapeutic trips to Bolzano. That same year, he received a major commission to paint

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es at the new Kleines Festspielhaus in Salzburg. This was followed by similar commissions at the seminary in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

and a castle in the district of Vienna. During this period, his second marriage failed and he lived with his mistress. In 1926 he was offered a professorship at the Academy, but did not accept. He returned to Vienna in 1927, but continued to travel, especially in Italy. Three years later, he had a stomach hemorrhage and died following surgery. He was buried in Maishofen with a grave memorial designed by

Clemens Holzmeister Clemens Holzmeister (27 March 1886 – 12 June 1983) was a prominent Austrian architect and stage designer of the early twentieth century. The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austrian Academy of Fine Arts listed his life's work as containing 673 pro ...

. A street in Salzburg is named after him and the State of Salzburg has awarded an "" for art since 1972.

Selected paintings

File:Faistauer anton dame mit weinglas.jpg, Woman with Wineglass (1913) File:Faistauer Richard Mayr als Ochs.jpg,

Richard Mayr Richard Mayr (18 November 1877, in Henndorf – 1 December 1935, in Vienna) was an Austrian operatic bass-baritone who was particularly admired for his performances in works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. He ...

as
Baron Ochs in

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

(1927) File:Anton Faistauer - Still Life with Coffee Cups - Google Art Project.jpg, Still-life with Coffee Cups (1912) File:Faistauer Diana.jpg,

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

with Three Women (c.1920) File:Woman with a Dark Hat Anton Faistauer.jpg, Woman with a Dark Hat (1917)

Writings

* ''Neue Malerei in Österreich. Betrachtungen eines Malers.'' Vienna: Amalthea 1923.Review by

Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...

: "Liebe der Lebenden". Yearbook 1921/23. Hildesheim: Borgmeyer 1925, II, 264-270.

References

External links

Anton Faistauer Forum

Seite zu Anton Faistauer
@ Maishofen Tourism website

Article in the ''SalzburgerLand'' magazine on the 125th anniversary of his birth. *

Salzburg Museum Housed in the ' (to which it moved in 2005), the Salzburg Museum is the museum of artistic and cultural history of the city and region of Salzburg, Austria. It originated as the Provincialmuseum and was also previously known as the Museum Carolino- ...