Franz Richard Unterberger

Biography of Franz Richard Unterberger ( 1838-1902 )

An austrian painter born in Innsbruck, Franz Richard Unterberger studied at the Academy of Munich, before joining the Weimar Academy, where he studied under the tutoring of Albert Zimmerman. He completed his training at the Academy of Düsseldorf under the supervision of Andreas Achenbach. Found of painting, a keen traveller, he visited Europe and its major towns many times. He spent some time in Milan in 1858, then came back to Munich in 1859 and was accepted the same year next to the Achenbach brothers at the Academy of Düsseldorf. In 1860, he travelled to Norway, then Denmark, to where he would be returning very often the following years. He also travelled to the English and Scottish coasts. In 1864, he settled in Brussels, where he stayed for the rest of his life. From this period, he went every summer to Neuilly-sur-Seine, and Italy became his first inspiration for his landscape paintings. He never gave up travelling. He mostly visited Venice and the South of Italy, particularly the surroundings of Naples and Sicily. He regularly exhibited in Vienna, Paris and London.

Unterberger’s paintings are highly romantic and recognizable thanks to the delicate colours characterising his palette, and to the astonishing and clever capacity of the artist to catch the liveliness and atmosphere of a place. Indeed, his paintings of Italian cities and seaside views serve as an occasion for him to search « il puro vero », the pure truth, in his pictures. His travels to Italy, particularly Venice and the South of Sicily offered him his best subjects. Unterberger liked to paint landscapes in a misty atmosphere, that way increasing their romantic dimension. His paintings often represent scenes of everyday life, that he brilliantly includes in his amazing views. His paintings of Venice and the Napolitan coast are known to be his greatest masterpieces and can be found in many European museums.