Schmidt, Martin Johann genannt "Kremser Schmidt"

Schmidt, Martin Johann (known as "Kremser Schmidt"), b. Grafenwörth near Krems (Lower Austria), Sept. 25, 1718, d. Stein an der Donau (Lower Austria), June 28, 1801. Excellent baroque painter and etcher. Son of the sculptor Johannes S.; his first teachers were G. Starmayr and B. Rosaforte (both pupils of the Strudel brothers) in Dürnstein, later he was probably a student at the Vienna Academy (member from 1768). He studied the art of J. van Schuppen and the great Austrian masters (P. Troger, D. Gran). Living in Stein from 1748, he had a decisive influence on the development and importance of oil painting. Apart from some large ceiling paintings, more than 1,000 altarpieces and devotional pictures in churches and abbeys have been preserved. Painted mostly in a warm chiaroscuro, they depict biblical scenes in an idyllic, poetic style. Later S. also painted mythological pictures ("Judgement of Midas", "Venus and Cupid at Vulcan's Forge"), both 1768, Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna). Apart from etchings, which reflect his intensive study of Rembrandt from 1749, he produced numerous drawings, the majority of which are sketches for altarpieces.

Works: ceiling paintings: parish church Krems, 1745; parish church Stein; city hall in Stein; refectory of Dürnstein Abbey, 1755; chapel of Herzogenburg Abbey, 1756 (all in Lower Austria). - Altarpieces: Stein, from 1745; Krems, from 1747; Seitenstetten, 1755; St. Pölten, 1757; Lilienfeld, 1759; Dürnstein, 1767; Göttweig, 1769; Melk, 1772; Maria Taferl, 1799 (all in Lower Austria); St. Peter (Salzburg), 1796; Kremsmünster (Upper Austria), 1798. - Drawings and etchings: collections of the abbeys in St. Peter, St. Paul im Lavanttal, St. Florian and Seitenstetten, of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (baroque museum) and of the Albertina in Vienna.

Literature: R. Feuchtmüller, Der Kremser Schmidt, 1989 (with index of works); G. M. Lechner and M. Grünwald, Göttweig und Kremser Schmidt, exhibition catalogue, Göttweig 2001.