Franz Defregger,
From 1883 Franz Ritter von Defregger

Born. 30.04.1835 in Iselsberg-Stronach, Osttirol
Died. 02.01,1921 in München

Austrian-Bavarian painter at the Munich School

Über den Künstler

The Tyrolean farmer’s son Franz Defregger was born on 30 April 1835 in East Tyrol, Austria.  At 25 he inherited his father’s farm but sold it and shared the money with his sisters. Originally he had planned to go to to America but decided to stay in Innsbruck instead. Whilst in Innsbruck he studied at the trade school where he met sculptor Michael Stolz. He went to Munich in the autumn of 1860 to study at the School of Applied Arts and was later accepted at the Munich Art Academy. From 1867 to 1870 Munich history painters Carl Theodor von Piloty, Hans Makart, and Gabriel von Max employed him at their studio. His paintings quickly became popular, and from 1878 to 1910 he taught as a professor of historical painting at the Munich Academy of Arts. Defregger was awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown in 1883 and became a knight. In 1906 Defregger’s work was honoured at the Centennial Exhibition of German Art in Berlin.

Franz von Defregger died at the age of 85 and is buried in Munich’s North Cemetery