# Friedrich von Amerling artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/friedrich-von-amerling/
Profile generated: 2026-05-27T11:31:00.056Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1803-04-14
- Death date: 1887-01-14
- Nationality: Austrian
- Movements: Biedermeier
- Common media: oil painting, watercolor, drawing, engraving

## About Friedrich von Amerling

Friedrich von Amerling (1803–1887) was an Austrian portrait painter who served as court painter to the Habsburg imperial family in Vienna from 1835 to 1880. Born in Vienna to a gold- and silversmith father, Amerling became one of the most sought-after portraitists of the Austrian Empire, producing refined likenesses of Emperor Franz Josef and members of the aristocracy. He is widely considered, alongside Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, one of the two outstanding Austrian portrait painters of the 19th century. His style is associated with the Biedermeier period, though his court commissions extend into the later grand-portrait tradition. Amerling's works are held in major European museum collections, and his portraits appear with some regularity at international auction.

## Common works and media

Amerling's most frequently encountered works are oil portraits on canvas, ranging from bust-format studies to full-length seated compositions. Sitters include members of the Habsburg family, Austrian nobility, and wealthy bourgeois patrons. He also produced watercolors, drawings, and engravings, though these appear less often on the market. His portraits are characterized by polished handling of fabric, jewelry, and flesh tones within carefully controlled compositions.

## Market and appraisal context

Amerling portraits come to auction in the Old Master and 19th-century European painting categories. Value depends heavily on the identity of the sitter, the painting's provenance, condition, and whether the work is a major commissioned portrait or a smaller study. Oil-on-canvas portraits dominate his auction appearances; watercolors and drawings surface less often. Full-length or three-quarter-length compositions of identifiable aristocratic sitters tend to attract the strongest interest. Collectors should verify attribution carefully, as workshop versions and later copies exist within the Viennese portrait tradition.

## Appraisily data basis

This page is compiled from artist identity research drawn from authority files (Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, Wikidata, Library of Congress) and biographical sources. Appraisily artist pages combine this research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. The auction and market information presented here is not an appraisal and should not be used as a substitute for a qualified professional valuation.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/1513
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q452397
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_von_Amerling
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/59357071/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500030473
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr90000142