Biography: Hans Makart

Hans Makart made vibrantly colored and atmospheric works that remarkably influenced Viennese society in the late nineteenth century. He was praised and derided for his sensual paintings.

Jul 18

Hans Makart made vibrantly colored and atmospheric works that remarkably influenced Viennese society in the late nineteenth century. He was praised and derided for his sensual, historical, and legacy paintings.

The so-called Makartstil, also known as the Makart-Style, a school of art and design that contributed to the decoration of numerous public spaces in Vienna in the latter part of the nineteenth century, was named after Markart because of how well-liked he was.

However, academics disapproved of Makart's work because of the artist's general disregard for factual accuracy and his denigration of significant historical events by including gratuitous female nudity. Meanwhile, he was well-known in the public eye for his work and wild social parties. Royalty, politicians, artists, and authors congregated at his lavishly furnished Venetian studio to socialize and "be seen." His fame was so great that he was sometimes referred to as the Andy Warhol of his day by pundits. (The Art Story, n.d.)

Early Years

Johann Makart and Maria Katharina Rüssemayr had "Hans" Johann Evangelist Ferdinand Apolinaris Makart in Salzburg in 1840. His father, a failed painter, was the chamberlain of the exclusive prince-residence, the Archbishop's Mirabell Palace. Although nothing is known about Makart's early years, he probably spent them surrounded by this pleasure palace's grand Neoclassical architecture and enormous Baroque gardens.

The artist's opulent surroundings likely impacted him because he later indulged in excesses of luxury and adornment in his paintings and worked as a designer and decorator. Although his father passed away in Italy in 1849, just before Hans turned 10, he may have urged his son to pursue painting to succeed where he had failed. (The Art Story, n.d.)

Middle Years

Makart died at such a young age that discussing his "mature" and "late" stages is tricky since he died at forty-four. However, Makart's position in his later life was such that the so-called Makartstil, or Makart-Style, came to characterize cultural life in Vienna and the era of "Ring-Road" Aestheticism due to his reputation's exponential growth throughout the 1870s.

Makart's name gave any item or fad a superior élan, from headgear to particular red hues. The influence of French Symbolism and Aestheticism is undeniable, but Makart's work was far more passionately focused on vibrant color, embellishment, and uninhibited sexuality than on gloom and misery. In this way, he is much more in line with the Art Nouveau trend, which would gain popularity at the end of the century and significantly impact it. The impact of Orientalism, which most critics have linked to Makart's travels around Europe and North Africa in the 1870s, may also be seen in his work. (The Art Story, n.d.)

Final Years

When Makart took a post as a professor at the Viennese Academy in 1878, he returned to the organization that had rejected him and criticized his abilities. Only two years later, he was named the institution's head of a particular school for historical painting, a position he held until his passing in 1884. The encounter between Makart and Gustav Klimt, a star-struck student, happened around this time. Klimt had a significant role in continuing Makart's legacy after his passing. In addition to his position as a professor, Makart's contributions kept him well-off and well-known. Even the negative comments appeared to inspire him to strive more. (The Art Story, n.d.)