Visual Arts
Austrian painting during this era is characterized by the commitment to portray a sentimental and pious view of the world in a realistic way. Biedemeier themes reinforced feelings of security, gemütlichkeit, traditional pieties and simplicity, eschewing political and social commentary during the epoch. Thus, the techniques, while classic in nature were of the utmost importance to reach a realistic rendering. Regarding the thematic, the technique was seen not only as a narrative medium to tell the past in anecdotal vignettes, but also to represent the present. This formed an aesthetic unity most evidenced in the portraits (e.g., Portrait of the Arthaber Family, 1837, by Friedrich von Amerling), landscapes (e.g. see Waldmüller or Gauermann landscapes) and contemporary-reporting genre scenes (e.g., Controversy of the Coachmen, 1828, by Michael Neder).
Key painters of the Biedermeier movement are Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793 Wien – 1865), Josip Tominc (Gorizia 1780 – 1866), Friedrich von Amerling (1803 Wien – 1887), Friedrich Gauermann (1807 Miesenbach, Niederösterreich – 1862), Johann Baptist Reiter (1813 Linz – 1890), Peter Fendi (1796 Wien – 1842), Michael Neder (1807 Wien – 1882), Josef Danhauser (1805 Wien – 1845), Edmund Louis Eduard Wodick (1806 Markt Alvensleben – 1886) among others.
The biggest collection of Viennese Biedermeier paintings in the world is currently hosted by the Belvedere Palace Museum in Vienna.
In Denmark, the Biedermeier period corresponds with the "Danish Golden Age" a time of creative production in Denmark, which encompasses the paintings of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and his students, including Wilhelm Bendz, Christen Købke, Martinus Rørbye, Constantin Hansen, and Wilhelm Marstrand as well as the neoclassical sculpture inspired by the example set by Bertel Thorvaldsen. the period also saw the development of Danish architecture in the Neoclassical style. Copenhagen, in particular, acquired a new look, with buildings designed by Christian Frederik Hansen and by Michael Gottlieb Bindesbøll.
Read more about this topic: Biedermeier
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