Johann K\u00f6ler was born on 8 March 1826, in Vastem\u00f5isa Parish, Viljandi County. The artist\u2019s\neducation began in Viljandi and continued in C\u0113sis, Latvia, where he studied painting. K\u00f6ler\nwent on to study painting at the St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated from the\nacademy in 1855 with the work Hercules Brings Cerberus from the Gates of Hell, for which\nhe received a small gold medal and a diploma in historical painting. The artist lived most of\nhis life in St Petersburg, where he worked as an art teacher for the Czar's daughter and in the\nschool of the Society for the Promotion of Arts. In 1861, Johann K\u00f6ler became an\nacademician at the St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. He also worked as a teacher at the\nacademy. In 1867, he became a professor (https:\/\/e-koolikott.ee\/oppematerjal\/14267-Johann-\nKoler).<\/p>\n
From 1859, K\u00f6ler began to sign his works \u2018J. K\u00f6ler, Viljandi\u2019. This was the artist\u2019s way of\nemphasising his origins. Johann K\u00f6ler is one of the founders of national art in Estonia.\nAlthough he was born into a poor cotter family, he rose to a high position at the court of the\nRussian Czar. Because he had connections at court, he mediated letters from peasants to the\nCzar. He was also the head of the executive committee of the Estonian Alexander School\n(Aleksandrikool). While in Estonia, K\u00f6ler painted landscapes and folk characters and\ninteracted with figures of the national movement. He exhibited his works in various foreign\ncountries. Johann K\u00f6ler died on 22 April 1899, in St Petersburg, and is buried in Suure-Jaani\ncemetery (https:\/\/e-koolikott.ee\/oppematerjal\/14267-Johann-Koler).<\/p>\n
The sketch View from the Viljandi castle ruins to the lake was completed a year after a long\ntrip to Europe, which at the time was a compulsory part of becoming an artist. In Italy, Johann\nK\u00f6ler studied drawing and painting in the countryside. This sketch is from one of the artist\u2019s\nthree surviving sketchbooks, the only one featuring Viljandi (Vallikivi, 2020).<\/p>\n