Hermann Kern
Hermann Armin von Kern (14 March 1838 – 18 January 1912) was an academic painter, one of the most popular Austrian genre painters of his time and a court painter at the court of Franz Josef I in Vienna.
Biography
Kern was born in Liptóújvár, former Kingdom of Hungary, now Liptovský Hrádok, Slovakia. He was the son of a doctor of medicine, Benjamin von Kern, who recognized his exceptional talent at an early age and paid for his education. At the age of 16 he began his artistic training in Levoča under Theo Böhm. He went to Prague in 1854, where he studied under J.B. Klemens, and then attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he was instructed by C. Rahl. In 1867 he studied in Düsseldorf, and in 1870 he studied under Karl von Piloty at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he befriended Franz von Defregger.
He worked initially in Budapest as a portrait and genre painter. Later, he moved to Paris. In 1877 he moved to Vienna, and lived there with his large family (his wife Paulina and 10 children) as an emperor Franz Joseph I court painter until his death in 1912 in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria.
Kern specialized in portraits and genre scenes. The latter often depicted children at play, music making gypsies, tavern scenes, and single persons. In 1885 he painted the ceiling decoration of the Szeged Theatre.
Being a very good pianist he often made music with his friend, the composer Franz Liszt. Three of his children became professional musicians (piano, cello, violin). His daughter Pauline von Kern (1878–1939), also an academic painter, painted mainly portraits and landscapes.
Works (selection)
- Die Politiker von Laab, 1881
- Deckengemälde, Theater Szegedin, 1885
- Hochwürden zu Gast, 1896
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Hermann Armin Kern Selfportrait
Other projects
Media related to Hermann Kern at Wikimedia Commons
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