Heinrich Friedrich Füger (5 November 1751 in Heilbronn - 8 December 1818 in Vienna) painter

He studied in Ludwigsburg, then went to Leipzig where he studied painting with A. F. Oeser. Thanks to his first achievements, the English Ambassador, Sir Robert Murray Keith, ordered miniature portraits at the Elector's court and invited him to his home to meet famous English portraits. . Later, Keith became an ambassador to Vienna and invited Füger to Vienna, where he gave him a patron in the person of Empress and Chancellor Kounice himself. Thanks to their scholarship, he traveled to Italy, where he perfected his art in painting. He returned to Vienna, where Kounic called him to the post of Deputy Director of the Academy. This award brought him many financial benefits and a wide clientele. In 1795 he became director of the academy and held this position until 1806. Before the end of the century his eye disease complicated his painting practice, so he had to give up his portrait miniature altogether. Füger devoted himself to miniatures only on the edge of his own artistic and educational activities. His main interest was academic, historical compositions in the spirit of Classicist doctrine. Small portraits were only to improve his financial situation. In these miniatures the noble aristocratic portrait style of the gallant century fades in a gentle classicist tone. In his portraits we can see the influence of the contemporary English portrait, his portraits are generous and have a well-aristocratic distance and grandeur. As the director of the academy, he directly influenced the coming generation of painters, who created the first Austrian school of small portraits at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. His work in the painting specialty of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory extended his influence to this area as well. His works are represented in leading galleries and museums especially in Central Europe, but also in London and elsewhere.