Dame mit Kind (1881)

Tina Blau prints bring the leafy avenues of Vienna's Prater, the canals of Holland and the light of Italy into your home. Blau was one of the most important Austrian women painters of the 19th century, a pioneer of the atmospheric landscape style known as Austrian Stimmungsimpressionismus. Our collection of fine art prints covers her Prater views, Dutch and Italian scenes, Vienna street views, tree studies and early landscapes.

About Tina Blau

Regina Leopoldine "Tina" Blau was born in Vienna on 15 November 1845, the daughter of a Jewish army doctor from Prague who encouraged her talent. At 14 she began lessons with Antal Hanély, a pupil of Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, and from 1860 studied with August Schaeffer, who encouraged her to paint outdoors. From 1869 she studied in Munich with Wilhelm Lindenschmit, where the Barbizon painters impressed her.

At the 1873 Vienna World's Fair she showed views of the Danube regulation works and met the painter Emil Jakob Schindler. She travelled with him to Hungary and Holland and shared his studio in the Prater, where she painted her first Prater landscapes after they parted. Trips to Venice and Rome lightened her palette. Her Spring in the Prater won a prize at the Paris Salon in 1882.

In 1883 she converted to Protestantism and married the animal and battle painter Heinrich Lang, and they moved to Munich, where from 1889 she taught at the women's academy of the Munich Women Artists' Association. After his death she travelled in Holland and Italy, then returned to Vienna, setting up a studio near the Prater Rotunde. In 1897 she co-founded an art school for women in Vienna, where she taught until 1915. She died in Vienna on 31 October 1916 and was given an honorary grave.

Style and Subjects

Blau's landscapes are quiet and full of atmosphere. She painted light filtering through trees, sunny park paths, rainy canals and still village streets, with soft, natural colour that grew brighter after her trips to Italy. She worked often outdoors and liked ordinary, unspectacular corners of nature.

With Schindler, Marie Egner, Olga Wisinger-Florian and Carl Moll she belongs to Austrian Stimmungsimpressionismus, a "mood Impressionism" that values atmosphere over drama. She also painted still lifes and, late in life, portraits of professors.

Famous Works

• An der Donauregulierung (1872). Work on the Danube near Vienna, from the time of her first exhibition success.
• Kanal bei Amsterdam (1875). A Dutch canal from her trip to Holland with Schindler.
• Spring in the Prater (1882), Belvedere, Vienna. Sunlit trees and strollers in the Prater, prized at the Paris Salon in 1882.
• Aus den Tuilerien – Sonniger Tag (1883). The Tuileries gardens in Paris on a sunny day.
• Canal in Holland (1885), Leopold Museum, Vienna. A quiet Dutch waterway.
• Rudolf von Alt on His Deathbed (1905). A moving portrait of the great Viennese painter.
• An der Türkenschanze (1912), Belvedere, Vienna. A late view of a Vienna park.

Decorating with Blau Prints

Blau's Prater and park scenes, like Spring in the Prater or Sunday in the Prater Gardens, bring soft green light to a living room, bedroom or sunroom. They suit both traditional and Scandinavian-style interiors with natural wood and linen.

Her Dutch canals and Italian street scenes, such as A Lane in Italy, make a gentle travel-themed group for a hallway or study.

FAQ

Who was Tina Blau?

Tina Blau (1845–1916) was an Austrian landscape painter and one of the most important Austrian women artists of the 19th century. She co-founded an art school for women in Vienna in 1897.

What art movement was Tina Blau part of?

She belonged to Austrian Stimmungsimpressionismus, an atmospheric landscape style shared with Emil Jakob Schindler, Marie Egner, Olga Wisinger-Florian and Carl Moll.

What is Tina Blau's most famous painting?

Spring in the Prater (1882), now in the Belvedere in Vienna, won a prize at the Paris Salon and made her name.

Where can I see Tina Blau's paintings?

The Belvedere in Vienna holds a major collection and held a large exhibition of her work in 2016–17. The Leopold Museum in Vienna and the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich also hold her work.

Related Artists

• Emil Jakob Schindler: painter she travelled and shared a studio with in the 1870s
• Marie Egner: fellow Austrian painter of the Stimmungsimpressionismus
• Olga Wisinger-Florian: fellow Austrian woman landscape painter of the same style
• Carl Moll: Austrian painter of the same movement
• Rudolf von Alt: the Viennese painter she portrayed on his deathbed