From 1860 to 1868, Eugen Jettel studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Albert Zimmermann. He was a classmate of Schindler, Russ, Ditscheiner and Ribarz. In 1868, he became a member of the newly founded 'Künstlerhaus' and already sold paintings to the famous Viennese art dealer Georg Plach. During this time his friendship with August von Pettenkofen began. Their relationship was characterised by mutual appreciation. He travelled to Italy with Leopold Carl Müller, but France – where he moved when the Austrian art dealer Charles Sedelmeyer, who lived in Paris, offered him a lucrative contract – became pivotal for his future. Jettel was very successful there: regular exhibitions, the nomination as a member of the jury of the Paris World’s Fair in 1889, the appointment as a knight of the French legion of honour and the awarding of numerous other honours give evidence of it. At the end of the 1890s, the artist returned to Vienna and became a member of the Secession. His last journeys led him to Istria, Lovrana and Lussingrande. Jettel's extensive oeuvre follows a consistent path: the quiet existence and unobtrusive beauty of nature remain its actual theme. Jettel was one of the first Austrian painters to absorb the art of the Barbizon School. In the 1870s, a hardening of forms, a brightening of the palette and a general calming down can be observed in his work. It is no longer the tone, but colour and light that become important. With his late, bright and airy 'captures of silence' he conveys authenticity and artistic seriousness.
Literature
A. Winklbauer, Eugen Jettel, in: Natürlichere Natur. Österreichische Malerei des Stimmungsrealismus, Kunsthaus Mürzzuschlag 1994, S. 223ff; H. Giese, Eugen Jettel. Die Poesie des Stillen, in: Parnass, Wien 1995, Heft 2, S. 44ff; Nachschlagewerke: Thieme-Becker, Müller-Singer, Bénézit, Boetticher, Busse Nr. 40955