# Moritz von Schwind artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/moritz-von-schwind/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T19:30:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1804-01-21
- Death date: 1871-02-08
- Nationality: Austrian
- Movements: Late Romanticism
- Common media: painting, drawing, illustration, graphic art, decorative art / mural painting

## About Moritz von Schwind

Moritz von Schwind (1804–1871) was an Austrian painter, illustrator, and decorative artist whose career spanned the transition from late Romanticism into the Biedermeier era in Central Europe. Born in Vienna on January 21, 1804, and later active in Munich and the surrounding Bavarian region, Schwind became known for works that blended literary and fairy-tale subjects with a finely detailed, narrative style. He worked across oil painting, fresco, ink drawing, and book illustration, producing a substantial oeuvre that earned him recognition in major German and Austrian art circles. His full birth name was Moritz Ludwig von Schwind, and he eventually received the noble title Ritter von. Schwind remained active from roughly 1819 until his death on February 8, 1871, near Munich (Pöcking am Starnbergersee). Today his works are documented in over 900 entries in the RKDimages database and are held by institutions across Europe.

## Common works and media

Schwind worked across a broad range of media. Oil paintings on canvas and panel, large-scale fresco and mural decorations, pen-and-ink drawings, and woodcut or engraved illustrations are all represented in his documented output. He is particularly associated with literary, fairy-tale, and allegorical subjects. Prints and reproductive engravings after his compositions circulated widely in the 19th century and may appear at auction. Original drawings and sketchbook pages form a significant portion of his market presence.

## Market and appraisal context

Moritz von Schwind's work appears at auction primarily in the Old Master Drawings, 19th Century Paintings, and Works on Paper categories. Because he produced a large volume of paintings, drawings, and illustrations over a fifty-year career, individual value depends heavily on medium, subject matter, size, condition, and documented provenance. Works with clear attribution supported by RKD, Thieme/Becker, or Bruckmann Lexikon references tend to carry stronger collector confidence. Collectors should note that his illustrations and prints are more commonly encountered than his major oil paintings or fresco commissions.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and scholarly databases with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Moritz von Schwind, identity data is grounded in records from the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Library of Congress Name Authority File, VIAF, Wikidata, and the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History).

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q551901
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500024154
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/69054934/
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84093601
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/71552