1835 -1921 · History painting, Tyrolean life and narrative realism

Peasants, hunters, heroes of 1809 and family scenes give Franz Defregger an identity deeply linked to 19th century Tyrol.

Franz Defregger was born in 1835 into a peasant family in Stronach, East Tyrol. After the death of his father, he sold the family farm and considered leaving for America, a project soon to be abandoned. His talent was noticed by the sculptor Michael Stolz, who encouraged him to train in Innsbruck then in Munich. At the Academy, Defregger studied with Hermann Anschütz and became closer to Karl von Piloty, great master of history painting. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of the rural world. This training allowed him to combine academic drawing, dramatic staging and intimate knowledge of Contingent or the return of the national guards depict decision, separation, victory and collective memory rather than just battle. At the same time, Defregger painted hunters, young women, artisans, visits and village interiors. Costumes, woodwinds, tools and expressions give these scenes a warm verisimilitude, even if they also contribute to an idealized vision of Tyrol. Appointed professor of history painting at the Munich Academy in 1878, ennobled and widely collected, he became one of the most popular painters in the German-speaking world. He died in Munich in 1921, leaving a work where regional identity, narration and portraiture reinforce each other. The "Franz Defregger" selection notably compares Andreas Hofer and Tyrolean Hunter. His reading favors the story.

Defregger transforms Tyrolean history into human theater: before the hero comes the face, the expectation and the collective choice.