Tom von Dreger


Tom von Dreger (2 October 1868 – 30 July 1948; full name Thomas Richard von Dreger) was an Austrian portrait, history, and genre painter.

Life and Work

Tom von Dreger was born to Austro-Hungarian Colonel Gottfried Eugen Edler von Dreger (1827 – 8 December 1907)[1] and his wife, Mary née Greaves. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1884 to 1885 and again from 1887 to 1888, where he was taught by painters August Eisenmenger, Siegmund L'Allemand, and Heinrich von Angeli. Following his studies in Vienna, Dreger traveled to Venice, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice under Eugene de Blaas and Ludwig Passini. He then spent a year at the Munich Academy under the guidance of Alexander von Liezen-Mayer. In 1892, he moved to Paris and studied for seven years at the prestigious Académie Julian. During his time in Paris, he exhibited regularly at the Exhibition of the National Society of Fine Arts under the name T. R. de Dreger from 1893 to 1899.

In 1892, Dreger married Henriette Allesch, with whom he had five children, Martha, Marie, Gottfried, Ruth, and Lea.

After his time in Paris, Dreger lived in his residence in Neuschloss. In 1906, he permanently settled in Vienna[2], where he continued his artistic work. From Vienna, he went on numerous study trips to Transylvania, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United States. In 1916, he created two altar paintings for the Votivkirche in Vienna and became the preferred portrait artist of the Austrian imperial family.

Throughout his career, Dreger produced many portraits of statesmen, clergy, and prominent figures from business, science, and the arts. Many of his works remain in private collections, though some are held in public institutions, including the painting collection of the Museum of Military History[3] in Vienna and public buildings such as the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, and the Historical Museum in Vienna.

Since 2014, Dreger’s honorary grave has been located at the Neustift Cemetery in Vienna.

Exhibitions

  • 1893–1899: Salons de la Société nationale des beaux-arts, Paris
  • 1897: Great German Art Exhibition, Berlin
  • 1903: 38th Annual Exhibition,Vienna Künstlerhaus
  • 1931: Exhibition of one hundred works from the years 1888–1931, organized by the Austrian Artists’ Association at the Kaiser Josef Stöckl, Augarten

Works (Selection)

Portraits

Religious paintings

Genre paintings

  • 1912 The Color Thief
  • 1912 Romanian Beggar
  • 1916 The Adoration
  • 1919 The Old Violinist
  • 1940 Vienna’s Hundred-Year-Old Washerwoman

Writings

  • 1918 Painting Exhibition. Military Casino, Vienna.
  • 1946 How I Learned to See, Vienna, Holzhausen’s Successors (publisher).

References

  1. ^ "ANNO, Prager Tagblatt, 1907-12-10, Seite 9". anno.onb.ac.at. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
  2. ^ Brunnbauer, Heidi (2009). Im Cottage von Währing/Döbling: Interessante Häuser – interessante Menschen III [In the Cottage of Währing/Döbling: Interesting Houses – Interesting People III] (in German). Vienna: Edition Weinviertel. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-902589-21-7.
  3. ^ Fuchs, Heinrich (1973). Die österreichischen Maler des 19. Jahrhunderts [The Austrian painters of the 19th century] (in German) (1st ed.). Vienna: Dr. Heinrich Fuchs, Selbstverlag. pp. K 70.
  4. ^ Rauchensteiner, Manfried; Litscher, Manfred (2000). Das Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in Wien [The Museum of Military History in Vienna] (in German). Vienna: Styria Publishing House. p. 78. ISBN 3222128340.
  • Hermann A. Ludwig Degener: Who’s Who. Our Contemporaries. Arani-Verlag, Berlin 1937.
  • Paul Emödi, Robert Teichl: Who’s Who. Lexicon of Austrian Contemporaries. Vienna 1937.
  • Dreger, Tom von. In: Austrian Academy of Sciences (ed.): Austrian Biographical Lexicon. Volume 1, 3rd issue, Böhlau, Vienna 1956, p. 199[1]
  • Heinrich Fuchs: The Austrian Painters of the 19th Century. Vienna 1973, Volume 1, p. K 70.
  • Heribert Sturm: Biographical Lexicon on the History of the Bohemian Lands. Oldenbourg, Munich 1974.
  • Rudolf Schmidt: Austrian Artists’ Lexicon from the Beginnings to the Present. Volume 1, Vienna 1980.
  • Felix Czeike: Historical Lexicon of Vienna. Volume 2, Vienna 1993.
  1. ^ Dokumentation, Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon und biographische (2003). "Dreger, Tom von". ISBN 978-3-7001-3213-4 (in German). Retrieved 2025-11-17.
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