SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
The Austrian landscape painter, printmaker, etcher and ethnologist Ludwig Hans Fischer (1848–1915) developed a practice that combined painting and printmaking with the observation and study of subjects encountered on his travels. Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, he studied painting with Eduard von Lichtenfels, engraving with Louis Jacoby and etching with William Unger. After his studies, around 1875, he travelled to Italy, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Palestine and India, before settling in Vienna. A scholarship received in 1875 funded a journey to the Middle East and Palestine, from which he produced a sketchbook; another appeared in 1879, following trips to Turkey, Jerusalem and the shores of the Dead Sea. He exhibited in Vienna that same year. During his travels, Fischer produced numerous watercolours and on-the-spot sketches.
His work was not limited to travel subjects: in 1889, he produced nine large landscapes for the Natural History Museum in Vienna, created series of etchings and engravings — including the group published under the title “Historical Landscapes from Austria-Hungary” — and designed several coins for the Numismatic Society of Vienna. A sale listing describes the watercolour “Im Gewürzbasar (Misir Carsisi) in Istanbul”, signed and bearing an inscription locating the subject in Istanbul. Another documents a view of the Wienfluss in Vienna’s Stadtpark, signed and dated 1896. A landscape of the Tungabhadra River in southern India is described as a watercolour over pencil, dated 1889 and located by an inscription; an oil on canvas depicting the Taj Mahal from the banks of the Yamuna bears the initials “LHF”, according to the listing.
In Vienna, Fischer founded a watercolourists’ club and published books on painting techniques: “Die Technik der Aquarellmalerei” appeared in 1888, followed by “Die Technik der Ölmalerei” in 1911. His publications also reflect broader interests. In 1890, he published “Indischer Volksschmuck und die Art ihn zu tragen”, on Indian folk jewellery and how it is worn; in 1898, “Eine neolitische Ansiedelung in Wien (Ober-St. Veit), Gemeindeberg”, on a Neolithic settlement in Vienna. The biographical source attributes more than forty books to him, including manuals, practical works and guidebooks.
This profile brings together identity references for Ludwig Hans Fischer and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
2 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Piguet. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour
Südliche Küstenlandschaft mit antikem Tempel.
Aquarell
Date to be documented
Published result : 350 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Watercolour
Cairo
aquarelle
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
