Bischoff, Franz (1864-1929)

Franz Bischoff (1864-1929)
Franz Bischoff, known as “King of the Rose Painters”, was born in 1864 in Bomen, Austria. He was a respected ceramic decorator and a leading Southern California plein-air landscape painter of the early 20th century. He studied painting and porcelain decoration in Vienna and worked as a ceramic decorator in various locations. In 1908, he built his studio home in Pasadena, California, and first shifted his attention from ceramics, as he was influenced by the Impressionists and Old Masters. Bischoff devoted much of his time to landscape painting, painting in Monterey, Laguna Beach, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the desert near Palm Springs. Bischoff is famous for his remarkably detailed floral paintings, as well as his rural and coastal landscapes. He excelled in both subjects, with his wonderful composition and expressive coloring skills. Bischoff was a member of the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art Association and his ceramics were exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and 1904 Exposition in St. Louis. In 1928, one year before he died, he visited Utah and painted in Zion National Park with his friend John Christopher Smith. His style was regarded as post-impressionist with expressive use of color and highlighting.