Trotting White Horse (1859)

The son of the Napeolonic painter Albrecht Adam (1786-1862), Franz Adam is recognized as one of the great military painters of the nineteenth century. As a young man, under the tutelage of his father, his conspicuous talent attracted a number of noble clients in Stuttgart, Augustenburg and Vienna. Following his acclaimed collection of lithographs on the Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states, created jointly with noted lithographer Denis Auguste Marie Raffet, in 1849 he became the appointed battle painter of Emperor Franz Joseph. He was present in the famous battle of Solferino south of Lake Garda in June 1859. A scene from the battle constituted his first masterpiece. He went on to paint a number of celebrated works during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and later on the battle fields of Hungary. He mentored several young artists including Polish painter Jozef Brandt and most notably his nephew, Emil Adam (1843-1924) who became one of the most important equestrian painters of the period.

Franz Adam’s work has been offered at auction multiple times, the record price for this artist being $248,101 USD for Lions attaquant des chevaux, sold at Sotheby’s Paris in 2021.