Franz Defregger

Franz Defregger (after 1883 Franz von Defregger) (30 April 1835 – 2 January 1921) was an Austrian artist known for producing genre art and history paintings set in his native county of Tyrol.

Biography Franz Defregger was born on 30 April 1835 at the Ederhof in Stronach, Tyrol in the Austrian Empire. He was the second son of Maria (née Fercher) and Michael Defregger, a farmer, who also had five daughters. His mother and two of his sisters died in 1841 during a typhoid epidemic. Franz himself nearly died from the fever. During his early years, Franz developed a strong love of music, and learned to play the flugelhorn. He soon became a member of a local band in Dölsach, playing at weddings, assemblies, and balls. Franz also displayed an early talent for drawing and woodcarving, which he developed autodidactically while working on his father's farm.

After his father died in 1858, Franz took over the farm at the age of twenty-three. Within two years, however, he sold the farm and shared the money with his sisters who wanted to emigrate to America. Defregger moved to Innsbruck and studied woodcarving with the sculptor Michael Stolz,