Carlo Artaria (1747-1808) - Fotografie eines Gemäldes vermutlich von Josef Kreutzinger oder Jakob Schlesinger

The Artaria family's publishing house was founded in Mainz in 1765. From 1770 on the company resided in Vienna where it became one of the city's most important music stores. In music history the Artaria publishing company is widely known for the first publication of more than 300 works by Joseph Haydn as well as numerous compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. The Artaria publishing house existed until 1932.

It was Ludwig van Beethoven who Carlo and Domenico Artaria were in closest contact with. They were among the first publishers who published works of the young composer after his move to Vienna. Despite some conflicts between Beethoven and the publishers regarding, for example the illegal reprint of a composition, the relationship remained in good order. For the music history of the 19th century the Artaria's archive proved especially relevant as it contained a number of Beethoven's handwritten music sheets as well as various letters written by the composer.(S.B.)