After he studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1807 until 1813 Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller worked as a drawing teacher for the children of the govenor of Croatia. After he married a singer in 1814 he worked as a scene painter for a few years. At the same time he started to paint portraits which are striking for their realism. The artist went back to Vienna in 1817 and became the curator of the Gemäldegalerie of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1829. Some years later he stood up against the academic establishment. He published two critical papers in 1849 and 1857 and, as a consequence, was forced to retire. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller painted pictures of all genres, his landscapes appear to be randomly selected picture details and lack any heroic subtext, his still lifes are stunningly detailed. Since the 1850ies Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller was involved with the reproduction of sunlight, which he painted in contrasting effects of light and shadow and therefore can be seen as a predecessor of the impressionist. The invitation to the world's fair in Paris and Philadelphia, an exhibition at the Buckingham Palace and the participation in the International Exhibition in London in 1862 indicate Ferdinand Georg Waldmüllers international success in the 1850ies and 1860ies. In 1861 and 1863 the Prussian King Wilhelm I. and the Austrian Emperor Franz Jospeh II. awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph.