Eugen Jettel

Eugen Jettel was born in Johnsdorf, today's Janovice, in northern Moravia on 20 March 1845. He enrolled at the Vienna Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) in 1860 and studied together with Rudolf Ribarz, Robert Russ and Emil Jakob Schindler in the class of landscapist Albert Zimmermann. Outside the Academy, Jettel found an important friend and teacher in August von Pettenkofen, who introduced him to the fascination of barren landscapes, such as the Hungarian Pannonian Step. Jettel’s interest in modern French landscape painting prompted frequent trips to France in the late 1860s. In 1868 he became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus and contributed to its exhibitions. In 1873 he moved to Paris where he collaborated with the art dealer Charles Sedelmayer until 1897. Sedelmayer paid an annual fee to receive all of the artist’s works. Jettel was immensely popular. From 1877 to 1881, he regularly exhibited at the Salon des Champs-Elysées. He won many awards including gold medals at the World's Fairs in Paris, Chicago and Antwerp. In 1897 he returned to Vienna and became an active member of the Secession. In the latter part of his life, Jettel worked mainly in Vienna’s surrounding area and Istria, where he died in Lussingrande on 27 August 1901.