A Life in Viennese Portraiture
Georg Decker was an Austro-Hungarian portrait artist born in Pest, in the Kingdom of Hungary, to a German-speaking family. The son of the artist Johann Stephan Decker and brother to artists Albert and Gabriel Decker, he moved with his family to Vienna in 1821. Under the instruction of his father, he learned to draw and paint in watercolour and miniature. His early career included a lithographed drawing of the composer Wenzel Müller in 1835 and exhibitions of watercolours beginning in 1837.
After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he learned oil painting, Decker later became captivated by pastels, having studied the work of Mengs and Liotard in Dresden. Known as a renowned portraitist of Vienna's highest society, he was sometimes referred to as Herr Professor Georg Decker due to his role as a teacher. In 1861, he became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus.
Artistic Achievements and Legacy
Decker’s notable works include portraits of various historical figures, such as:
- Portrait of Wenzel Müller
- Portrait of Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
- Portrait of Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian
- Portrait of Radetzky
- Portrait of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
- Portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
In 1872, the Emperor rewarded his achievements with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph. Following his death in 1894, the city of Vienna acquired many of his sketches and portrait lithographs from his estate. He is buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.
