Background
He was born to a family of wealthy Transylvanian Saxon merchants, and pursued that trade until he was twenty-nine.
He was born to a family of wealthy Transylvanian Saxon merchants, and pursued that trade until he was twenty-nine.
At that time, his interest in art led him to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, where he studied for two years, then transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he studied with the history painter, Johann Caspar Herterich.
Although he did numerous portraits, he is best-known for his landscapes, which combine the Academic and Impressionist styles. While there, he was also influenced by the works of Wilhelm Leibl, Max Liebermann and Fritz von Uhde. From 1890 to 1891, he went to Italy, visiting Rome and Venice, where he copied the works of Titian.
He returned to Italy two years later, living in Cervara di Roma and painting landscapes en plein air.
He spent the years 1894 to 1896 in Rome, working in the studio of his fellow German-Romanian, Robert Wellmann. Upon returning to Brașov, he opened his own studio, becoming on the first to work as a freelance artist in that area.
His workshop soon became a meeting place for the German-speaking artistic community. Those who worked with him there included Hans Mattis-Teutsch and Margarete Depner.
In 1903, he served on a committee charged with overseeing the selection of painters to work on the restoration of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Sibiu.
