Hugo Charlemont, son of the miniature painter Matthias Adolf Charlemont and brother of the history and genre painter Eduard Charlemont, studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Eduard von Lichtenfels from 1873. He learned the technique of etching from William Unger. Soon he became a pupil of his elder brother Eduard and of Hans Makart. From 1872 Charlemont was a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus, in whose exhibitions he regularly participated. Study trips took him to Holland, Germany and Italy, and he spent several years in Venice. Charlemont was a versatile talent. His subjects were large still lifes, floral and fruit pieces, interiors and industrial workshops, animal paintings, landscapes and portraits. He also created a number of wall and ceiling paintings. He was also a contributor to the so-called Kronprinzenwerk on the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Awards accompanied his artistic work - in 1891 he received the II. Medal in Munich and the Small Golden State Medal in 1897. The art of his teacher Hans Makart influenced his work as much as atmospheric impressionism, which he enriched with a new, more colourful palette.
Literature
Nachschlagewerke: Thieme-Becker, Boetticher, Schmidt, Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts-Bestandskatalog der Österreichischen Galerie in Wien