Makart, Hans (1840-1884)

Makart, Hans

PAINTER (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)

BORN 28 May 1840, Salzburg - DIED 3 Oct 1884, Wien
BIRTH NAME Makart, Johann Evangelist Ferdinand Apolinaris
CAUSE OF DEATH syphilis
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 14 A, Nummer 32)

Hans Makart was the son of Johann Makart, a chamberlain at Mirabell castle in Salzburg. His mother was Maria Katharina Rüssemayr. In 1858 he went to Vienna to study at the Art Academy, but he was probalby considered to be untalented and left. In Salzburg he studied under his relative Jost Schiffmann before he went to Munich where Karl von Piloty was his teacher at the Art Academy. He also travelled to London, Paris and Rome to study. In 1869 he married Amalie Franziska Roithmayr (1846-1873). They had two children, Hans und Grete before Amalie died in het birthplace Munich.

Makart returned to Vienna in 1869 and emperor Franz Joseph provided him with a studio in the house of the sculptor A.D. Fernkorn. In 1872 he moved to an old foundry at the Gusshausstrasse 25 that he used as a studio. He gradually filled it with sculptures, carpets, flowers, musical instruments, weapons, requisites and jewellery that he used to create classical settings for his portraits, mainly of women. Eventually his studio looked like a salon and became a social meeting point in Vienna. Cosima Wagner described it as a 'wonder of decoritive beauty, a sublime lumber-room' after her visit in February 1875. In 1876 he became a professor.

Makart travelled widely. He spent the winter of 1875-1876 in Egypt with Rudolf Huber and Carl Leopold Müller and he met Franz von Lenbach in Cairo. In 1877 he visited the Netherlands and Belgium and in 1877-1878 he travelled to Spain and Morocco. Makart was famous for his richly coloured history paintings and enjoyed his finest hour in 1879 with his painting of the procession in honour of the silver anniversary of the marriage of emperor Francis Joseph and his wife Elisabeth. Makart also designed furniture and interiors. From 1880 to 1882 he was a member of the board of the Künstlerhaus in Vienna.

In 1881 he married his second wife, the dancer Bertha Babitsch (also known as Bertha Linda, 3 Jan 1850-20 Aug 1928) in Hietzing, but this marriage wasn't accepted by the Viennese society. In 1882 emperor Francis Joseph orderded to build the Villa Hermes at Lainz (near Vienna) for his empress and the bedroom decoration should be inspired on Shakespeare's Midsummernight's Dream. Makart designed a fascinating dreamworld that only exists at the Villa Hermes in a large painting (1882), but his full design was never executed after his early death in 1884 from syphilis and hard living. He was buried at the Zentralfriedhof and his grave was designed by Edmund Hellmer in 1889.

To secure the future of his young children his collection of antics and art was put up for auction by art-dealer H.O. Miethke. It consisted of 1083 pieces, including a few of his own unfinished and unsold paintings. His studio stood empty after his death and was demolished in 1916.

Work:
"Charlotte Wolter as Messalina" (1875, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna);
"Dora Fournier" (c.1878-1879, Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna).

Family
• Wife: Linda, Bertha (1881-1884, Wien: Hietzing)

Related persons
• painted Bernhardt, Sarah
• painted Buska, Johanna
• painted Gabillon-Würzburg, Zerline
• influenced Klimt, Gustav
• knew Lenbach, Franz von
• was teacher of Max, Gabriel von, Ritter von
• was pupil of Piloty, Karl Theodor von
• was a friend of Schindler, Emil Jakob
• was visited by Wagner, Cosima
• knew Wagner, Richard
• was a friend of Wolter, Charlotte
• painted Wolter, Charlotte

Events

0/3/1875	Festival in honour of Richard Wagner at Makart's studio in Vienna. It had the form of a costume ball and he cooperated with Franz von Lenbach. Franz Liszt played the piano. Apart from Richard Wagner, his wife Cosima, Gottfried Semper and Arnold Böcklin were present. [Böcklin, Arnold][Lenbach, Franz von][Liszt, Franz][Semper, Gottfried][Wagner, Cosima][Wagner, Richard]
6/10/1884	Grand funeral of the painter Hans Makart in Vienna

Images
The grave of Hans Makart at the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (25 Jan 1999)	The statue of Makart at the Stadtpark, Vienna. Picture by Androom (31 Aug 2002)	The grave of Hans Makart at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. Picture by Androom (03 Sep 2022)
'Bildnis seiner erste Frau Amalie'. (Salzburg: Residenzgalerie)	'Charlotte Wolter as Messalina'. (1875, Wien: Wien Museum)	'Dora Fournier-Gabillon'. (c1879-1880, Wien: Wien Museum)