Rating and value of paintings by Franz Defregger

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Rating and value of the artist

A German and Austrian painter best known for his history paintings and war scenes, Franz Defregger has a high market value.

Prevailingly common in auction rooms, the price at which they sell ranges from €30 to €294,000, a substantial range but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to the artist's works.

His oil on canvas Wallfahrer (Pilgrims) sold for €294,000, whereas it was estimated at €131,000 to €184,000. 

Order of value from the most basic to the most prestigious

The artist's style and technique

Franz von Defregger has forged a style all his own, combining Austrian realism with military painting.

In his compositions, he seeks out transparency effects that add visual depth to his scenes, which are often marked by a striking austerity.

Influenced by Austrian art, Degreffer composes complex works that capture the rigorous spirit of military tableaux.

This distinctive style positions him among the notable figures of realism and military painting in Austria, where his unique approach finds a prominent place in the artistic tradition of his era.

The career of Franz Defregger

Franz von Defregger (or Franz Karl von Defregger) (1835-1921) was an Austrian military painter whose work is distinguished by a particular interest in cavalry scenes and Cossack figures.

Born in Graz, Austria, he turned early on to the depiction of military life, influenced by the realism that marked the genre painters of his day.

Studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Degreffer was also imbued with the influence of Russian art, having traveled to Russia on several occasions, where he became close to the local military tradition and Defregger the Cossack iconography.

Like Adolf Baumgartner Stoiloff, Defregger chooses to privilege horses in his scenes, focusing on rendering the energy and vitality of these animals in war or parade contexts.

Cossacks, emblematic figures of the Russian cavalry, feature prominently in his compositions.

Originals of the Pontic steppes and symbols of resistance and freedom, these warriors are distinguished by their independent way of life and their own military structure, with elected chiefs and specific combat techniques.

Fascinated by their history, Defregger captures its spirit in his works, highlighting their riding skills and daring maneuvers.

This iconography, which often includes hunting scenes and steppe landscapes, brings a singular dynamic to his paintings and reinforces the narrative dimension of his military compositions.

Through his depictions of Cossacks and war horses, Defregger forged a precise, energetic style, which earned him a place among the notable figures of Austrian military painting.

World and artists - Franz von Defregger

Focus on Italienische Bettelsänger by Franz von Defregger

In Italienische Bettelsänger (1873), Franz von Defregger transports us to a scene from everyday life, where a group of Italian beggar singers stop off at an inn. The atmosphere, though modest, is charged with a warm conviviality.

Each character seems lost in their own role: the man in the background plays the flute, the children are fascinated by the music, and the woman on the right listens with a shy smile, while petting the dog sitting at her feet.

The subdued lighting recalls the paintings of the Flemish school, where light is subtly directed to highlight faces and expressions, lending the scene an almost palpable intimacy.

The colors, dominated by warm, earthy tones, reinforce this rustic, authentic ambience.

The meticulously crafted details of costumes and faces evoke the influence of the Northern School, with particular attention paid to the characters' expressions and the textures of materials.

The setting of the inn, simple but rich in elements such as the hanging hat and the trunk at the back, plunges us into a rural universe and brings us closer to the everyday life of these singers.

Defregger captures here not only a moment of music and sharing, but also succeeds in paying tribute to the dignity of the little people. With this painting, he belongs to a pictorial tradition that values realism and narrative, showing a rare balance between the sobriety of the scene and the richness of the details.

German and Austrian war painting

German and Austrian war painting in the 19th century, rooted in a tradition of history painting, embodies the grandeur of battles and immortalizes the critical moments of its era.

Marked by the conflicts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the wars of German unification and nationalist tensions, this painting bears witness to the magnitude of the upheavals of the time, offering a blend of patriotism and military heroism.

Among the painters who left their mark on this tradition, Franz Defregger stands out alongside his European contemporaries. His works, such as The Battle of Sadowa and The Siege of Prague, focus on the dynamics of confrontation and the dramatic tension of individual gestures.

His attention to detail, also found in French Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet and the baron François Gérard, gives his compositions a historical and patriotic rigor: every uniform, every weapon, and every expression helps to freeze in time the heroism of his German and Austrian soldiers.

In Germany, Carl Röchling and Wilhelm Camphausen adopt a similar realism, incorporating imposing landscapes that underline the harshness of the fighting and the nobility of the soldiers.

These artists, influenced by the work of Franz Roubaud in Russia, accentuated the monumentality of war by working on grandiose compositions, such as Roubaud's panoramas, like his famous Panorama de Borodino (1887).

Roubaud and his Russian compatriots such as Vasily Vereshchagin also convey the immensity of battles while evoking the human conditions of the battlefield, where courage and suffering rub shoulders.

The works of Defregger and his peers blend a palette of dark, saturated colors, capturing both the violence of the confrontations and the dignity of the soldiers.

As with the Polish Juliusz and Wojciech Kossak, details are treated with extreme meticulousness, to make each painting a vivid fresco of war and national history.

Their compositions, often panoramic and intensely charged with detail, exalt the values of endurance and bravery.

Through these works, German, Austrian and, more broadly, European military painting becomes a powerful means of collective memory, where each battle recounted on canvas reflects the grandeur and complexity of 19th-century conflicts.

The artist's imprint on his time

Franz Defregger's imprint on his time is undeniable, marked by his ability to capture and magnify scenes imbued with emotion and realism, which find a particular echo in Austria and Germany.

Despite his limited notoriety in France, Defregger is arousing growing interest among certain French collectors, attracted by the intensity of his compositions and his meticulous technique, which turns each painting into a plunge into Austrian military and peasant history.

His works, oscillating between battle scenes and portraits of everyday life in the Alps, continue to reflect an era, but also a collective imagination specific to German-speaking cultures.

His quotation, high and stable for several decades, reflects a sustained infatuation and lasting recognition of his work, despite the absence of the great international popularity of some of his contemporaries.

Although some of his pieces are preserved in major museums in Austria and Germany, it is largely thanks to passionate, often private collectors that his work has spanned generations.

These enthusiasts play an essential role in preserving his memory and in the ongoing valorization of his art.

The rarity of his paintings on the market accentuates their desirability, and each acquisition thus becomes a testament to Defregger's imprint, enabling his work to endure over time and influence new generations fascinated by Austrian history and culture.

His signature

Not all of Hanz Defregger's works are signed, and more importantly, they can be signed in different ways, given that he used several pseudonyms during his career.

Although there are variations, here's a first example of his signature:

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