Rear View Of The Houses At Schloßfreiheit

He took his first drawing lessons at the age of ten. In 1813 he started as an apprentice at Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur (KPM) in Berlin. During this period, he also studied drawing at the Academy of Art. After his training at the porcelain works he became a decorative artist under the court painter Carl Wilhelm Gropius in 1821, as well as creating stage designs based on plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. He later devoted himself to architecture painting, receiving commissions from the Prussian court and Friedrich Wilhelm II directly. His time in Paris, where he stayed for three years, influenced his work greatly, during which he was also exposed to and impressed by English watercolour painters of the likes of John Constable. In 1828 he returned to Berlin where he worked as an independent painter.

Johann Philipp Eduard Gaertner was a German painter who specialized in depictions of urban architecture.