Joseph Nigg

1782 – 1863

Austrian Biedermeier painter. Having studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Johann Baptist Drechsler (1756-1811), Nigg began working in a Viennese porcelain factory as a flower painter. He continued to work there over the next forty years, also holding painting classes. With the advent of the Biedermeier era, flower painting became immensely fashionable and examples could be found on large porcelain plaques. A piece of this sort, approximately 30 cm in height, was presented by Nigg on behalf of the Viennese porcelain factory at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. In addition to being a porcelain painter, Nigg was also known for working in pastel, watercolour and oil. He died in Vienna in 1863, survived by his son, the painter Alois Nigg. Paintings by Nigg can be found in museums in Vienna (Museum fûr Kunst und Industrie), Milan (Brera), Salzburg (Museum Carolino-Augusteum) and St Petersburg (Hermitage).

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