Born 1688 in Augsburg, died 1742 in Graz. Between the years 1701 and 1706 he was trained in the workshop of the Augsburg painter Johann Rieger. Before 1720 he entered the service of Count Ignaz Maria Attems (1652–1732), for whom he did a considerable amount of work: frescoes, altarpieces, landscapes, etc. A large part of his production was for the Attems family castles in Slovenian Styria (Slovenska Bistrica, Brežice, Podčetrtek, etc.). Flurer’s style indicates an intimate knowledge of Italian and in particular Venetian painting of the 17th century. His landscapes display traces of the influence of Marco Ricci, Luca Carlevarijs and the Dutch painter Pieter Mulier the Younger, called Cavalier Tempesta. From him Flurer adopted much of his landscape repertoire and the depiction of clouds. Flurer painted a number of religious and mythological paintings and decorative wall cycles; beside these there are also landscapes, some are signed, others can be attributed to him on the basis of mentions in the records: two such paintings, signed and dated 1721, were on sale at a Schidlof auction in February 1922, two others, signed with the painter’s monogram, are kept in a private collection in Graz, while many are recorded in old inventories of the Attems family.
Lit.: Franz Ignaz Flurer (1688-1742): Ein Barockmaler in der Steiermark, Stadtmuseum, Graz 1983 (Text: Ulrike Kraus-Müller); Zeri [& Rozman], 1983; Zeri & Rozman, 1993.