Makart, Hans

(1840–1884)

   From 1869, the year he went to Vienna with an invitation and subsidies from the government of Emperor Franz Joseph, until his death, Makart dominated painting and the decorative arts in the imperial capital. Indeed, he may have been the most lionized man in the city. Trained in the school of historical realism under Karl von Piloty in Munich and in the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Makart also studied during travels to London, Paris, and Italy.

   Specializing in mammoth historical tapestries and canvases, Makart attracted huge audiences. He became a professor of historical painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1878. That same year, 34,000 visitors viewed his painting Charles V’s Entry into Antwerp. Some people came to look for likenesses of themselves or their contemporaries, which the artist often incorporated into his pictorial displays.

   Makart also produced and designed historical pageants. The most famous, and certainly grandiose, of these was his public staging of the festivities for the 25th wedding anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth (1837–1898) on 27 April 1879. The event took over five hours and featured parades of people in 17thcentury costume, which Makart had seen at the Reubens tercentenary in Antwerp two years before. In 1881, he began decorative work for the staircase of the Vienna Museum of Art and on a bedroom for the empress.

   The furnishings of Makart’s own atelier, dense with richly colored floral detail, reflected his personal aesthetic leanings, particularly his admiration of Rubens, and those of his patrons and clients. A Makarthat, a Makart-bouquet, and a Makart-salon belonged in the homes and closets of all among the Viennese bourgeoisie of his day who aspired to social position. Some of his designs were carried over into the work of Gustav Klimt.

   See also Architecture.