Born 1807 in Miesenbach, died 1862 in Vienna. His father Jakob, who was also a painter, encouraged him and he began painting from nature at a very early age. From 1824 to 1827 he was a pupil of Josef Mössmer at the Viennese Academy, in the landscape department. His older brother Carl was also a student at the Academy. His models among the old painters were Paul Potter and Jacob van Ruisdael. Alone and with colleagues from the Academy he went painting in the environs of the Schneeberg, a mountain in Lower Austria, and in the Salzkammergut. In 1827 he copied Ruisdael in Dresden, in 1829 he was in Munich, with his brother-in-law Josef Höger, Franz Steinfeld and Johann Fischbach he was active in Salzburg. In 1836 he became a member of the Viennese Academy, in 1838 and 1843 he visited Venice, Milan and the Tyrol. He had friends among his fellow painters and Viennese literary figures, such as Johann Nestroy and Ferdinand Raimund. Gauermann depicted life on the farms and in mountain areas, fights between animals and hunting scenes which extended his fame also beyond the borders of Austria.
Lit.: Ruprecht Feuchtmüller, Friedrich Gauermann: 1807-1862, Rosenheim 1987; Gerbert Frodl, Wiener Malerei der Biedermeierzeit, Rosenheim 1987, pp. 249-250, passim.