Josef Klieber (1 November 1773,

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

- 11 January 1850,

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 painter and sculptor.

Life and work

His father, , was a church sculptor and gave him his first art lessons. In 1785, he began attending the drawing school in Innsbruck then, in 1792, went to Vienna with his father, hoping to find an apprenticeship. Their efforts failed, but Josef remained in Vienna. After a period of living in poverty, he was on the verge of enlisting in the army, when his father called him home to help with a project. Taking the money he earned there, he went back to Vienna and was able to obtain an apprenticeship with the sculptor, . He also learned

metal casting In metalworking and jewelry making, casting is a process in which a liquid metal is delivered into a mold (usually by a crucible) that contains a negative impression (i.e., a three-dimensional negative image) of the intended shape. The metal is ...

from . By 1810, he was working for Prince Johann I Joseph, for whom he produced a large number of sculptures, suitable for adorning his buildings in and around Vienna. Occasionally, he was engaged by the architect,

Josef Kornhäusel Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura and is the only company in Japan spec ...

, to provide decorative ornaments for his designs. He became well known through this work. As a result, he was appointed to the Privy Council and, in 1814, provisional Director of the engraving and metal cutting school at 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 ...

. The following year, he was named permanent Director; a post he held until 1845. His students there included

Franz Bauer Franz Andreas Bauer (later Francis) (14 March 1758 – 11 December 1840) was an Austrian microscopist and botanical artist. Born in Feldsberg, Lower Austria (now Valtice, Czech Republic), he was the son of Lucas Bauer (died 1761), court pain ...

, Anton Dietrich and

István Ferenczy István Ferenczy (February 24, 1792 – July 4, 1856) was a Hungarian sculptor. Career Ferenczy made a number of exerted attempts to establish a school of sculpture in Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Hungary and it was his mission to est ...

. During his career, he received several awards, including the Great Gold Civil Medal. His preferred sculpting material was

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

and his works were generally realistic in nature. He was known for working rapidly, which had a detrimental effect on some of his smaller sculptures. He died in Vienna's

Wieden Wieden (; ) is the 4th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the centre of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but its borders were changed later. Wieden is a small region near the city centre. Wien.gv.at webpage (s ...

district and was interred at the

Wiener Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's biggest cemet ...

. In 1879, a street and a park were named after him in

Perchtoldsdorf Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking. Geography It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...

. His son, , was a painter and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

. The watercolorist and portrait painter, , was his grandson.

Selected works

File:Annagasse14-IMG 1545-Fassadendetail.JPG, House of the Blue Carp () File:River god fountain 01, Baden.jpg, The River God Fountain in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

File:Festetics kastélypark-03.JPG, The Lion's Well in

Keszthely Keszthely (; also known by alternative names) is a Hungarian city of 20,895 inhabitants located on the western shore of Lake Balaton. It is the second largest city by the lake and one of the more important cultural, educational and economic hub ...

File:Isterbrunnen-IMG 5495.JPG, The Isterbrunnen (Danube Fountain), Altes Landhaus

Sources

* * * Neuigkeits-Welt-Blatt vom 25. Oktober 1910 Nr. 117, Seite 9. * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klieber, Josef 1773 births 1850 deaths Artists from Innsbruck Sculptors from the Austrian Empire Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Painters from the Austrian Empire