Arthur von Ferraris (or di Ferraris; 1856–1936) was a Hungarian-born artist known for his portraits of society figures of his day and for his "orientalist" paintings.[1]
Von Ferraris was born in Galkovitz, Hungary but moved to Vienna as a teenager to study with Joseph Matthaus Aigner. In 1876, at twenty, he moved to Paris to study with Jules Lefebvre.[2] Von Ferraris spent time in Egypt and painted street scenes and market scenes that captured the imagination of the art world when he returned to Paris.[3] In the late 1880s he shared a studio with Charles Wilda, a painter also known for his "orientalist" themes. His works from many countries made him known as a "citizen of the world."
Von Ferraris had "considerable success" as a society portrait painter.[4] He exhibited these and his Orientalist works at the Salon des Artistes Francais in the 1880s and 1890s.[4] One notable portrait von Ferraris painted was John Davison Rockefeller, in 1903.[5] He also painted portraits of Edward M. Shepard, Johannes Schober, Felix M. Warburg, and other notables.[6] [7]
One of his most famous paintings is of the mythological story "Leda and the Swan."
Von Ferraris's grandson is the designer Tom Karen.[8]