Hugo Hodiener (Hodina) was born in 1886. Hodiener began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He then went to Munich, where he studied at the Academy under Ludwig von Löfftz and Martin von Feuerstein. From 1908 he undertook study tours over the Oberinntal and Pitztal to Italy. He was wounded during World War I, and from June 1918 on he was working as a war painter in the art group of the Imperial War Press. During this work he also fell into Russian warfare. Hodiener's preference was the representation of high mountain landscapes.