Anton Hansch (born 24 March 1813 in

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. ...

; died 8 December 1876 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 ...

) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n landscape painter. His work is included in the permanent collections of the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

, the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest; the Salzberg Museum, the Lichtenstein Museum Princely Collection, the Vienna Museum among other institutions.

Early life

Hansch was born in Vienna in 1813, to a family who ran a fashion and artificial flower factory. They considered this a part of his training to attend the Vienna Academy to become a flower painter. Prior to 1837, before becoming a landscape painter, Hansch made artificial flowers.

Biography

He was a pupil of Josef Mössmer at the Academy of Vienna from 1826–1836. After his schooling he traveled and studied in Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. His early works consist of landscapes that were painted in a

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

classicist style. Later, in the 1830s and 40s he began to paint in a more naturalistic tradition that then developed into a more idealized, heroic style. In 1934, he traveled to

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

and to

Salzkammergut The Salzkammergut (, ; ) is a resort area in Austria, stretching from the city of Salzburg eastwards along the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Limestone Alps to the peaks of the Dachstein Mountains. The main river of the region is the Traun (r ...

. In 1936 two of his paintings, ''Parthie near Hieflau in Steiermark'', and ''From the Neuwald Not Far From the Schneeberg'' received praise from the art community. One of these paintings was acquired by the Art Association, while the other was acquired by the Archduke Franz Karl. In 1937, the Archduke commissioned new paintings of Ischl. In 1938, he won two awards, the Grand Court Prize and the Rosenbaum Composition Prize, for two of his landscape paintings. In 1839, he was awarded first prize for landscape painting by the Vienna Academy. In 1848 he received an appointment to the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1858, his painting ''Unter den Linden'', a night scene, won a purchase prize by the Belvedere in Vienna. In 1861, he became a member of the

Vienna Künstlerhaus The Künstlerhaus in Vienna's 1st district has accommodated the Künstlerhaus Vereinigung since 1868. It is located in the Ringstrassenzone in between Akademiestraße, Bösendorferstraße and Musikvereinsplatz. The building was erected betwee ...

. In 1863, he traveled to Lake Langbath to paint winter scenes. One of these works was presented as a gift to the Emperor Franz Josef from his mother, the Archduchess Sophie. In 1867, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Franz Josef Order, and the same year he received the Order of Guadalupe prize from Emperor Maximillian I of Mexico. In 1868 he became a board member of the Vienna Academy. The following year, 1869, he exhibited over 180 of his alpine paintings at the

. In 1873, he suffered a financial crisis, and lost his fortune during the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...

. This event forced him to sell his oil sketches that he had intended to keep for his own private collection. Having traveled extensively earlier in life, he settled in Salzburg in 1875. There he focused on painting the surrounding landscapes, including the Golling waterfall,

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

Königssee The Königssee () is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park. Description Situated within the Bercht ...

, and

Chiemsee Chiemsee () is a freshwater lake in Bavaria, Germany, near Rosenheim. It is often called "the Bavarian Sea". The rivers Tiroler Achen and Prien (river), Prien flow into the lake from the south, and the river Alz flows out towards the north. The ...

lake. In 1875 the emperor purchased twelve paintings of the Hintersee. Later that year his eyesight began to fail. He died in Salzburg the following year, at the age of 63.

Collections

Hansch's work has been widely collected in private and public collections. Notable museums that hold Hansch's paintings in their permanent collections include the

, the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, the Salzberg Museum, the Lichtenstein Museum Princely Collection, the Vienna Museum the Dom Quartier Salzburg Residenzgalerie, among other institutions.

Gallery

File:Anton Hansch - Wengeralpe im Berner Oberland (Jungfrau und Mönch) - 3083 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, Anton Hansch, Wengeralpe im Berner Oberland (Jungfrau und Mönch), 1853 File:Anton Hansch - Der Stubaiferner in Tirol - 3084 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, Anton Hansch, Der Stubaiferner in Tirol, c. 1875 File:Anton Hansch Sengsengebirge.jpg, Anton Hansch, Sengsengebirge, 1876 File:Anton Hansch - Blick auf den Gardasee, 1844.jpg, Anton Hansch, Blick auf den Gardasee, 1844 File:Anton Hansch Blick ins steirische Landltal 1837.jpg, Looking into the Landl valley of

; 1837

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hansch, Anton 1813 births 1876 deaths Painters from the Austrian Empire Landscape painters from Austria-Hungary Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni