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Baron Raimund von Stillfried (1839-1911)
Von Stillfried was an Austrian photographer and painter. Born in
Komotau, Bohemia, he studied at the Marien-Akademie in Trieste where he
received painting lessons from Bernhard Fiedler. Afterwards, he gained a
cadetship in the army and went to Linz in 1856 where he studied drawing
under Joseph Maria Kaiser. He quit the military in 1863 and travelled to
South America, China and Japan. Between 1865 to 1867, he joined the
volunteer forces of Emperor Maximilian in Mexico before returning to
Austria briefly, and then returning to Japan. He opened a photographic
supply shop in Tokyo in 1970, and took lessons in photography from
Felice Beato. In 1871 he established the photographic studio Stillfried
& Co. (later Stillfried & Andersen) in Yokohama which was to become the
most successful studio in Japan for the next decade. He soon took over
Beato's studio. Von Stillfried specialised in photographs that dealt
with traditional Japanese folk culture, and is best known for his
hand-tinted costumes of generic Japanese types. He also undertook
landscape and outdoor photography. He held numerous international
exhibitions, and travelled extensively and is considered one of the most
important travel photographers of the 19th century. In 1875 he was named
court photographer in Vienna after his involvement in recording the
transit of Venus in Japan. Von Stillfried also worked as a restorer and
painter of interiors; he worked on the interior of St Stephen's
Cathedral in Vienna in 1898. He died in Vienna.
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