Hailing from Germany’s historic Black Forest, Lukas Kirner was an accomplished painter of portraits.

Born in Furtwangen, an area known for clock manufacturing, Kirner descended from a proud line of clock face painters. It’s plausible that his early years were spent in this trade before he turned to portraiture as a full-time endeavour. In his prime, he became one of the leading local portraitists, undertaking a multitude of commissions for merchants and industrialists. 

His brother, Johann Baptist Kirner, studied with the famous Black Forest expat, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, in Rome. Winterhalter often looked back fondly on his upbringing in the small village of Menzenschwand.

Lukas Kirner is represented at Augustinermuseum in Freiburg.

Public Collections

Augustinermuseum in Freiburg.

Timeline

1794

Born in Furtwangen, Baden, Germany, to Johann Baptist Kirner, a shoemaker, and Genofeva Kirner (nee Dilger).

Attended the Royal Higher Art School in Augsburg.

1825

Moved to Günzburg, Bavaria, with his wife, Crescentia Kirner (nee Knöpfle).

1851

Died in Furtwangen.