Friedrich von Keller

He was the youngest of ten children born to Johann Jakob Keller, a vintner, who died when Friedrich was only nine. Thanks to the support of some patrons, he was able to study drawing at the local trade school. He earned his living as a general craftsman. At the age of eighteen, he went to Stuttgart to attend the Royal Art School, but the tuition was too high, so he took drawing classes in the evening at the Polytechincal School. Finally, at the age of twenty-seven, he was awarded a royal scholarship of 125 Ducats and was able to attend the art school, where he studied with Bernhard von Neher and Heinrich von Rustige. During his studies, he supported himself by painting coats-of-arms and signs. In 1871, he moved to Munich and became a free-lance artist. He continued to improve his technique by working with Wilhelm von Lindenschmit at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1872, he began a series of scenes depicting stonebreakers at work, which are his best known paintings. He married in 1876. He was appointed a professor of genre painting at the Royal Art School in 1883, succeeding Carl von Häberlin, who had resigned. His notable students there included Paula von Wächter, Bernhard Buttersack, Maria Caspar-Filser, Adolf Fleischmann, Oskar Schlemmer, and Rudolf Yelin. In 1908, his twenty-fifth anniversary as a Professor was celebrated at the art school, which had become a State Academy. The following year, King Wilhelm II presented him with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown. He retired in 1913.