Franz Richard Unterberger

Italian coastal scene of Fishing village in Capri

1878

Franz Richard Unterberger was a successful 19th-century Austrian painter who specialized in painting the Italian landscape, notably the environs of the Bay of Naples. Unterberger was born in 1837 in Innsbruck. He attended the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich; studied under Albert Zimmermann at Milan and at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Düsseldorf under Andreas Achenbach. He visited Norway in 1860 and then settled in Brussels, where he was strongly influenced by the Belgian school. Unterberger was attracted to the Mediterranean landscape of southern France and Italy and visited the coasts of England and Scotland several times. Unterberger painted his first Italian subject, Party in Naples, in 1866. Like countless others, he was inspired by the beautiful Italian vistas, especially in and around Naples, where he lived for many years. Once established, Unterberger was able to arrange major exhibitions to showcase his works. One of the most famous of these was in Vienna in 1874, followed by one of equal importance in Brussels two years later. Noted for his brilliant use of color and slightly Impressionistic approach, works by Unterberger received the highest praise from both critics and the public.