Anton Kitzmüller embarked on his art education in 1984 with private tuition from Fritz Feichtinger, whose work engaged intensively with nature studies. From 1985 to 1986 Kitzmüller attended the University of Art and Design in Linz, where he focused particularly on nude studies in his painting masterclasses. During this period he was in contact with many key figures of the Linz art scene, such as Ludwig Schwarzer, Franz Xaver Ecker, Erich Ruprecht, Josef Fischnaller and Fritz Aigner.

In 1986, he received an invitation from Ernst Fuchs to visit him in his villa in Vienna; Karl Korab also invited him to his studio in the Waldviertel region. The same year, Kitzmüller received a place in Wolfgang Hutter’s painting and graphic art masterclass at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. As a student, he visited several European countries before travelling to England, where figurative art was becoming increasingly established thanks to Lucien Freud – a contrast to the abstract works that dominated Austrian art in the 1980s. In London, the young artist met British painter Stephen Taylor and spent a few months working with him in his London studio. In 1989 he returned to Vienna, where Wolfgang Hutter enabled him to graduate early with a diploma from the University of Applied Arts. Kitzmüller established a studio on his grandfather’s estate in Upper Austria, which would become the platform for his creative practice for many years.