He seems to have been an indifferent student, but he did show an interest in art so, in 1845, he was enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna for a brief stay, then studied privately with Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and Carl Rahl. From 1847 to 1855, before completing his studies, he became an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Common Army and served as a cuirassier in the Hungarian Campaign.