Hans Figura

1898-1978

Austrian

Hans Figura was an Austrian painter and printmaker, best known for his intricate aquatint etchings of European landscapes and cityscapes. The artist’s etchings often have a noticeable shift between the contrast in foreground and background, thereby lending a realistic sense of depth the scenes. Born in 1898 in Nagy-Kikinda, Hungary, to Austrian parents, Figura went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After his time serving in World War I, he traveled throughout Europe completing plein-air sketches to bring back to the studio for developing more completed works. World War II would again curtail his art career—as he served in the German Army and his studio was bombed—and at the end of the conflict he would spend the remainder of his life in the small alpine town of Villach, Austria.