The Austrian printmaker, photographer and portrait painter Ferdinand Schmutzer came from a well-known family of Viennese artists; his great-grandfather, Jacob Matthias Schmutzer, was the founder of the "K. K. Kupferstecher-Academie" in Vienna.  Schmutzer's interest in etching developed while studying in the Netherlands, where he was influenced by Rembrandt's works.  In 1901 he became a member of the Vienna Secession, and in 1908 was appointed as a professor at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna.  He was the first to work with oversized plates—an innovation which was hitherto unknown in the field of etching.