Eugen Alfons von Blaas (1843 - 1931)

Eugen Alfons von Blaas spent almost all his life in Italy, with his permanent residence in Venice – which is reflected in his paintings of landscapes, genre scenes and portraits. Roman and Venetian aristocrats admired his rendering of their likenesses, in which he captured the charm and naturalness of the subject – softly modelled facial features with warm flesh tones radiating vitality. Blaas’s father and first teacher was Austrian painter Carl Ritter von Blaas (1815–1894); his mother was Italian (Agnesina Ajuda). From 1856 the family lived in Venice. From 1860 he frequently helped his father with the frescos in the Vienna Arsenal. Eugen Alfons studied at the Academies in Rome and Venice before travelling to Paris, London, Belgium and Holland. Later, he held a teaching post at the Venic Academy, and in 1867 he became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus.

Author: Habersatter Thomas

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. 164