Born into a family of artists - both his father and brother were painters - Robert Russ started studying at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Albert Zimmermann, who headed the department of landscape art. Among his colleagues were Emil Jakob Schindler, Eugen Jettel und Rudolf Ribarz. In 1871 Russ became a teacher of landscape painting at the Vienna Academy. In 1880 he was awarded the Reichl Prize and in 1888 was elected an honorary member of the Academy. Robert Russ had a profound influence on Austrian landscape painting in the last third of the 19th century. He drew the main inspiration for his motifs from the rich Austrian and Italian landscapes. Stylistically he remained forever true to the optical reality. In the manner of the Impressionists he was mainly preoccupied with the surfaces of his motifs and how the effects of light and atmosphere changed them.