August Querfurt

Born. 1696 in Wolfenbüttel
Died. 1761 in Wien

German painter of hunting and battle scenes.

About the artist

August Querfurt was born in 1696 in Wolfenbüttel in Lower Saxony. He learned to paint from his father Tobias Querfurt the Elder and later became an apprentice to Georg Philipp Rugendas in Augsburg. He was famous for painting horses, hunting scenes, and battlefield paintings which are normally signed with his initials AQ.

From 1743 Querfurt lived in Vienna, later becoming an honorary member of the Vienna Academy in 1752. His battle scenes were influenced by the styles of Jacques Courtois, Philips Wouwerman, and his teacher Rugendas.

Querfurt was commissioned to paint for Duke Karl Alexander von Württemberg and painted a battle consisting of twelve paintings, two of which were 11 metres by 4 metres, “The Battle of Belgrade” and “The Battle of Höchstädt”. In the Military History Museum in Vienna, Querfurt’s cycle of eight paintings depicting events from the War of the Austrian Succession can be seen. These were painted for Empress Maria Theresa.

Querfort died in Vienna in  1761.