Eduard Kaiser (22 February 1820 in Graz – 30 August 1895 in Vienna) was an Austrian painter and lithographer, as was his brother Alexander Kaiser (1819–1872). He was a much-admired portrait performer who drew the attention of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria.
Eduard Kaiser was the son of Joseph Franz Kaiser, the owner of a lithographic business in Graz. He studied at the Wiener Akademie aligned with Josef Danhauser and soon became a colossal competitor for the summit Vienna portrait-lithographer Josef Kriehuber. Enthused by the ideas of the revolution, in 1848 Kaiser united the Academic Legion – during this mature he made portraits of almost everything the main figures of the March Revolution (Josef Radetzky, Franz Schuselka, Hans Kudlich Adolf Fischhof, Carl Giskra). In 1852/53 he lived in Rome. After returning to Austria he developed a totally profitable portrait-lithography business, with clients including Franz Joseph I of Austro-Hungary, his empress Elisabeth of Austro-Hungary, Friedrich Hebbel, Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann.
In 1867–1886 he lived in Rome again, where he devoted himself utterly successfully to watercolour reproductions of classical masterpieces – these reproductions were next sold in Great Britain as colour lithographs. He after that returned to Vienna and to portrait painting in oils and watercolour.
What do you think of the works of Eduard Kaiser?
Use the form below to say your opinion about Eduard Kaiser. All opinions are welcome!