Anton Romako (1832 - 1889)

Illegitimate son of factory owner Josef Georg Lepper and his Czech housemaid Elisabeth Romako, he was author of an extensive oeuvre of drawings and paintings. Romako attended the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts from 1847, possibly studying with Waldmüller. In 1849 he moved to Munich to study with Wilhelm Kaulbach, and at the end of 1850 returned to Vienna to train privately with Carl Rahl. From 1854 to 1856 he studied watercolour painting in Venice and took a study trip to Spain, then lived in Rome until 1876. Here his work for wealthy international clients included genre scenes from Roman life, showing picturesque traditional costumes of the rural population. He travelled frequently to Vienna, as well as to the 1867 Paris Exposition, to show his work. In 1876, after the breakdown of his marriage with Sophie Köbel, he returned to Vienna, but struggled to gain recognition of his painting. He travelled extensively, and spent the years 1882–84 in Switzerland. Romako’s eccentric pictorial language, which overstretched contemporary conceptions of art, made him a precursor of the Austrian Modern period. His painting Tegetthoff during the Battle of Lissa (1878/80) is regarded as the modern history painting in the canon of European art history.

Author: Oehring Erika

Literature: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg. I Ed.): Face to Face. Österreichische Porträtmalerei des 19. Jahrhunderts. 19th-century Austrian portrait painting. Residenzgalerie Salzburg I DomQuartier Salzburg 6.6.-29.9.2025. Salzburg 2025, S. I p. 169