Richard Alfred Eugen Jettel (20 March 1845 – 27 August 1901) was a painter, producing mainly

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

. He was from

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. He studied at the

Vienna Academy The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

and moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1873, before moving back to Vienna in 1897 and serving as a co-founder of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Ho ...

. He was made a Knight of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1898.

Life

Jettel was the son of Sophie and Ladislaus Hugo Jettel, an ironworks-administrator. After his mother's death, the family moved to

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. ...

. His father died before he was 15. In 1860, Jettel entered the class of

Albert Zimmermann August Albert Zimmermann (born Zittau, September 20, 1808 - died Munich, October 18, 1888) was a German painter. He was the brother of painters Max, Richard, and Robert Zimmermann, and served as Max's teacher. He was primarily self-taught as a ...

in the

Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

, where he met

Emil Jakob Schindler Emil Jakob Schindler (27 April 1842 – 9 August 1892) was an Austrian landscape painter. His eldest daughter was the author and composer Alma Mahler. Life He was born to a family of cotton spinning-mill operators that had been established in F ...

, Robert Russ and Rudolf Ribarz; there, he studied

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

and stayed until 1869. Study tours took him to France, the Netherlands,

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and Hungary. In 1868 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 ...

, and would exhibit several times there. While in Vienna, he came under August von Pettenkofen's influence. In 1872-73 he travelled around Italy with

Leopold Carl Müller Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

. Jettel moved to Paris in 1873 to take up a well-paying job for the Austrian art dealer

Charles Sedelmeyer Charles Sedelmeyer (30 April 1837, Vienna – 9 August 1925, Paris) was an Austrian and French art dealer, collector, and publisher active in Paris from 1866, with premises at 6 rue de la Rochefoucauld. He is credited with popularising the Dutc ...

, and led a successful artistic life there. Sedelmeyer may have hoped that Jettel would marry his daughter. However, instead, he married Cäcilie Mailer, the daughter of the owner of a glovemaker from Vienna. Sedelmeyer reduced his salary, and the couple found themselves in financial distress. He had exhibitions in 1877–81 at the Salon des Champs-Elysées and in 1890–97 at the Salon du Champ-de-Mars, and he was nominated as a member of the 1889 Exposition Universelle jury. In 1898, he was made a Knight of the

. He was at the centre of a circle of Austrian and German artists in Paris, but also had contact with French peers (including serving as a teacher to ) and ties to the Barbizon school. An inheritance gave him the means to return to Vienna in 1897. He was a founding member of the

, sat on the Secession's working committee, and his work was shown at the group's fourth exhibition in 1899. Still successful artistically, he received patronage from Archduke Charles Stephen and his wife Archduchess Maria Theresia. In his last years, he visited Istria many times to paint landscapes. Jettel died on 27 August 1901 in Lussingrande, before the start of an

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

study trip with the Archdruke. He was buried in the cemetery of Saint Anne in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. In ''

Ver Sacrum ''Ver sacrum'' ("sacred spring") is a religious practice of ancient Italic peoples, especially the Sabelli (or Sabini) and their offshoot Samnites, concerning the dedication of colonies. It was of special interest to Georges Dumézil, according ...

'', the Secession named him "a great artist, a true friend and never to be forgotten." His brother, Wladimir Eugen Eudard Jettel (1843-1910), was also a landscape painter; however, he was trained in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Honours

*Gold Medal, 1st Class in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 1874; for the pictures ''Forest Landscape'' and ''Hintersee''. *Great Gold Medal in

, 1877 *Gold Medal in

, 1889 *Gold Medal in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 1893 *Gold Medal in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 1893 *First Class Medal in

, 1894 World Exhibition *Great Gold Medal in

, 1897 *Knight of the

, 1898 *''Eugen-Jettel-Weg'' (Eugen Jettel Way) in

Hietzing Hietzing () is the 13th Districts of Vienna, district of Vienna (). It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling. Hietzing is a heavily populated urban area with many residential buildings, but also contains large areas of the Vi ...

, named in his honour in 1932

Selected works

*''Evening in the Harbour'', 1882 *''From the Forest of Fontainbleau'' *''Cottage Garden'', 1892 *''Tree Landscape'', about 1861 *''The Hintersee in Berchtesgaden'', 1864 *''Ducks on the River'', 1890 *''Riverbank in Hungary'' to 1871 *''High Mountain'', about 1868 *''Dutch River Landscape'', 1883 *''Dutch Landscape with Peasant Plowing'', 1870 *''Motif at Szered in Hungary'', 1871 *''Prater game with Bathers'', 1869 *''Lakeshore'', 1867 *''Hungarian Landscape'', 1871 *''Torrent'', 1860 *''Village Road in Brittany'', 1895

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jettel, Eugen 1845 births 1901 deaths People from Rýmařov Artists from the Margraviate of Moravia Painters from Austria-Hungary Members of the Vienna Secession Austrian landscape painters Art Nouveau painters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Expatriates in France Knights of the Legion of Honour