Rudolf Wimmer

Born. 10.04.1849 in Gottdorf
Died. 28.11.1915 in Munich

German painter, Portraits and  Court painter

About the artist

Rudolf Wimmer was born on 10 April 1849 in Gottsdorf. His father died when he was 12 and he started an apprenticeship as a Cabinetmaker. With financial help from his godfather and cousin, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Arts in Munich. As an exceptional student, he was awarded a bronze medal and a scholarship. He continued his studies in Antwerp at the Royal Academy and often went on study trips around Europe. He returned to Munich in 1877 to become a freelance artist.

In 1877 he settled in Munich. He married and became a freelance artist. His success came in 1881 after he had painted a portrait of Eduard Iwanowitsch Totleben, a Russian Count.

Whilst exhibiting a portrait of his wife at a Berlin art exhibition, it attracted the attention of the Prussian Crown Princess who was interested in his work.  She asked if he could paint a portrait of her husband, the later Kaiser Wilhelm II. He became the official court painter in November 1890 and painted a large number of pictures.

His work had become so popular that he also received orders from the Bavarian royal family. Impressed with his work, he was appointed “Royal Bavarian Professor” in November 1896.

Wimmer did not only paint portraits, he painted landscapes and farm workers, and was also asked to paint pictures of businessmen for their offices and company buildings.

Wimmer died on 28 November 1915 in Munich