Johann Sperl

Johann Sperl
Johann Sperl, drawn by Wilhelm Leibl
Born	Johann Spörl (1840-11-03)3 November 1840 Buch, Middle Franconia
Died	29 July 1914(1914-07-29) (aged 73) Bad Aibling, Upper Bavaria
Nationality	German
Education	Hermann Anschütz, Karl von Piloty, Arthur von Ramberg
Known for	Painting

Johann Sperl (3 November 1840 – 29 July 1914) was a German painter.

Johann Sperl was born (as Johann Spörl) in Buch (now part of Nuremberg, Middle Franconia) in 1840 as an only child of Protestant parents. His father worked as an agricultural day laborer in the summer and as a wood worker in the winter. His mother worked as a housekeeper. The family lived in the next-door house of a homestead.

In 1846 Sperl started attending school from which he graduated in 1854 as class winner. The local pastor assisted Sperl in securing an apprenticeship as a colorist. With the death of his father in 1856, Sperl became the sole provider of his sick mother and started an apprenticeship to become a lithographer.

In the winter of 1858–59 Sperl fulfilled his wish of attending drawing courses at Nürnberger Kunstgewerbeschule. At this time the Kunstgewerbeschule was led by August von Kreling, a versatile history painter and sculptor. Sperl met the painters Rudolf Hirth du Frênes and Theodor Alt there. In 1865 the three artists met again in Munich and subsequently became members of the Leibl-Circle. He became director of a lithographic institution in 1863.

Sperl gave up his position as a director in the spring of 1865 after he had earned enough money to attend the academy in Munich. He joined the painting class of history painter Hermann Anschütz. In 1865 he met Wilhelm Leibl, which led to a lifelong friendship between the two.

Sperl attended the master class of Karl von Piloty a history painter who was well known beyond Munich and whose pupils included Hans Makart, Franz von Lenbach, Eduard von Grützner, Franz Defregger and Gabriel von Max among others.