Franz Krüger

Franz Krüger (10 September 1797, in Großbadegast, Köthen, Anhalt – 21 January 1857, in Berlin), known as Pferde-Krüger ("Horse-Krüger"), was a German (Prussian) painter and lithographer.

Krüger was the son of a nobleman, and his friendship with the ornithologist Johann Friedrich Naumann from the neighbouring town of Ziebigk led him into animal painting.

During his school days in Dessau, he came into contact with the landscape painter Karl Kolbe the Elder [de].

His painting of Prince Augustus of Prussia (a son of Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia) and Count Neidhardt von Gneisenau laid the foundations for his fame as a portraitist and led to further depictions of the royal family.

In 1825, he was named a Royal Professor and a full member of the Academy of Arts.