Theodor von Hörmann (1840-1895) is regarded as the first and only Austrian impressionist painter.
He was born on December 13, 1840 in Imst in Tyrol. He set out to pursue a career as a military officer and taught gymnastics, fencing and freehand drawing in various military schools.
In 1869 Hörmann’s first artistic attempts began with copies of color prints.
He soon turned to painting in oil. In 1872, already 33 years old and totally self-taught, Hörmann began art studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Eduard von Lichtenfels.
Among his classmates were the younger students Hugo Darnaut and and Hugo Charlemont. Hörmann gained access to Emil Jakob Schindler, the most important Austrian landscape painter of the period.