Austrian engravers

A Brief History of Austrian Printmaking

The history of Austrian printmaking dates back to the early 15th century, when the first woodcuts—the oldest examples of relief printing—were created in monasteries of the Alpine region, such as Lambach and Mondsee .

16th Century: The Dawn. Under the patronage of Emperor Maximilian I, major artists, including Albrecht Dürer, worked in Vienna and other cities, producing woodcuts for historical and genealogical works . A special place is held by the Danube School (Albrecht Altdorfer, Wolfgang Huber), whose members created expressive landscape etchings, establishing a distinctive local tradition .

17th Century: Reproductive Engraving. Copper engraving developed actively, primarily as a reproductive technique. Notable masters included Aegidius Sadeler, Andreas Spängler, and the Jezl family from Tyrol .

18th Century: The Golden Age. In 1727, the first professorship for copperplate engraving was established at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts . The technique flourished under Empress Maria Theresa, with Jakob Matthias Schmutzer (1733–1811) as its leading figure. In 1766, he founded his own "Copper Engraving Academy," which merged with the old Art Academy in 1772 . His colleagues included outstanding landscape artists like Franz Edmund Weirotter (1733–1771), whose works, including the suite "Views of the Environs of Andelys," represent the Austrian school at a high European level . During this period, the Viennese court actively promoted the mezzotint technique, used for portraits by artists such as Johann Gottfried Haid, Johann Jacobe, and Johann Petrich Pichler . Etching, offering greater freedom, attracted painters like Martin Johann Schmidt, Paul Troger, and Franz Anton Maulbertsch .

19th Century: Lithography and Biedermeier. Lithography, invented by Alois Senefelder in 1797/98, quickly spread in Vienna . The leading Austrian lithographer was Josef Kriehuber (1800–1876), famed for his Biedermeier portraits, along with Johann Mössmer, Franz Steinfeld, and Rudolf von Alt . The art of woodcut also saw a revival, driven by Romantic interest in late Gothic traditions .

Thus, Austrian printmaking journeyed from medieval monastic workshops to the avant-garde experiments of the 20th century, always maintaining close ties with major European movements while developing its own distinct tradition.

Masters of Austrian Printmaking:

Albrecht Altdorfer (Danube School)

Wolfgang Huber (Danube School)

Jakob Matthias Schmutzer

Franz Edmund Weirotter

Johann Gottfried Haid

Josef Kriehuber

Rudolf von Alt

Gustav Klimt

Egon Schiele

Oskar Kokoschka

Alfred Kubin

Fritz Wotruba