ALBERTINA Museum
16 February –10 June 2019
On the occasion of the 300th
anniversary of the founding of the Principality of Liechtenstein in 2019, the is presenting a comprehensive selection of the most outstanding
works from the Princely Collections under the title From Rubens to Makart. The museum is also devoting a
simultaneous, separate jubilee exhibition to the Viennese watercolor, an
important and central category of works within the Princely Collections, in an exhibition
entitled Rudolf von Alt and
his Time.
Five Centuries of Art
History
Well over 100 of the most important paintings and sculptures from the
exquisite collection of this family, rich in tradition like few others in
Europe, span an impressive range from the Early Renaissance in Italy to the
Baroque period, from Viennese Biedermeier to the historicism of the Makart era.
Iconic works such as Antico’s Bust
of Marcus Aurelius, which
was acquired for the Princely Collections just recently, the life-size bronze
sculptures of Adrian de Vries, and Peter Paul Rubens’s famous Venus in Front of the Mirror are the focus of an exhibition that
amounts to a veritable promenade through five centuries of art history.
A
Private Collecting Passion of The Highest Order
The documentation of the
Liechtenstein Princes’ continuous and passionate collecting activities goes
back over 400 years—a period during which outstanding personalities and their
individual artistic tastes gradually gave rise to a private collection that
remains unparalleled to this day.
And as a city in which the princely family maintained a permanent residence until 1938, Vienna is of exceptional significance:under Prince Johann Adam Andreas I, who acquired numerous masterpieces of the Flemish Baroque, the collection was presented on the second bel étage of the newly built Liechtenstein City Palace on Bankgasse (formerly known as Schenkenstraße) beginning in 1705.
In 1810, Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein made his masterpieces accessible to the Viennese public for the first time at the family’s Garden Palace in the Rossau neighborhood.During the Second World War, the family transferred its residence—and thus also its collections—to the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Ever since then, the official home of the Princely Collections has been in Vaduz. Selected works are permanently displayed in the galleries of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace and City Palace in Vienna, however, and these can be viewed bythe general public as part of guidedtours.
And as a city in which the princely family maintained a permanent residence until 1938, Vienna is of exceptional significance:under Prince Johann Adam Andreas I, who acquired numerous masterpieces of the Flemish Baroque, the collection was presented on the second bel étage of the newly built Liechtenstein City Palace on Bankgasse (formerly known as Schenkenstraße) beginning in 1705.
In 1810, Prince Johann I of Liechtenstein made his masterpieces accessible to the Viennese public for the first time at the family’s Garden Palace in the Rossau neighborhood.During the Second World War, the family transferred its residence—and thus also its collections—to the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Ever since then, the official home of the Princely Collections has been in Vaduz. Selected works are permanently displayed in the galleries of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace and City Palace in Vienna, however, and these can be viewed bythe general public as part of guidedtours.
Recontextualization
This
exhibition presents the Princely Collections’greatest treasures, providing an
exemplary impression of their formidable richness. In contrast to the permanent
presentation at the Liechtenstein family’s two Viennese palaces, within which
these works can be experienced more or less in their traditional context, one of
the central intentions of this exhibition lies in their recontextualization:the
reduced setting of the ALBERTINA Museum, with its modern spaces, makes possible
a fresh look at the masterpieces on exhibit.In lieu of art-historical stringency,
the primary objective here has been to arrive at a form of presentation determined
by aesthetic considerations. And it is thus that, through alternative groupings
and/or deliberate isolation, these paintings and sculptures now tell entirely different
stories.
Peter Paul Rubens
Venus in Front of the Mirror, ca. 1614/15
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Terra (Earth), ca. 1570
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Anthonis van Dyck
Portrait of Maria de Tassis, ca. 1629/30
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Roses, 1843
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Friedrich von Amerling
Young Girl, 1834
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Friedrich von Amerling
Portrait of Princess Marie Franziska von Liechtenstein (1834–1909) at the Age of Two, 1836
Oil on cardboard
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Jan Jansz van den Uyl
Breakfast Still Life with Pewter Flagon, 1635
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Hans Makart
The Death of Cleopatra, 1875
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Peter Paul Rubens
Portrait of Clara Serena Rubens, the Daughter of the Artist (1611–1623), ca. 1616
Oil on canvas on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Peter Paul Rubens
Venus in Front of the Mirror, ca. 1614/15
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Terra (Earth), ca. 1570
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Anthonis van Dyck
Portrait of Maria de Tassis, ca. 1629/30
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Roses, 1843
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Friedrich von Amerling
Young Girl, 1834
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Friedrich von Amerling
Portrait of Princess Marie Franziska von Liechtenstein (1834–1909) at the Age of Two, 1836
Oil on cardboard
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Jan Jansz van den Uyl
Breakfast Still Life with Pewter Flagon, 1635
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Hans Makart
The Death of Cleopatra, 1875
Oil on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Peter Paul Rubens
Portrait of Clara Serena Rubens, the Daughter of the Artist (1611–1623), ca. 1616
Oil on canvas on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Wall Texts(Selection)
Naddo Ceccarelli
In addition to images of the Madonna, the Ecce Homo motif became akey theme of Christian art starting in the Trecento. In their depictions of Christ as the Man of Sorrows, both
Naddo Ceccarelli
Christ as the Man of Sorrows, ca. 1347
Tempera and gold on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Naddo Ceccarelli (active c. 1330–60)
and Marco Palmezzano (1459–1539) have succeeded in depicting Jesus's silent suffering in a most unique fashion. The two paintings represent highlights of religious art from the Princely Collections. The figure of the dead Savior is shown in the pose of a half-length figure standing in a sarcophagus that is also typical of icon painting. The unnatural posture illustrates the divinity of Christ, who died as a human.
A devotional painting from fifteenth-century Ferrara was equally intended to arouse sympathy and compassion in the viewer. The Redeemer wears the coronation rohe and crown of thorns, his facial features expressing silent, introverted grief rather than suffering. This type of image in which the figure of Christ is removed from any narrative context is referred to as Christ in Repose.
Antico
The medalist, goldsmith, and sculptor Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi (c. 1455–1528) was Mantua's leading sculptor at the time. His nickname ''Antico '' testifies to his profound knowledge of the classical word.
This Bust of a Youth, which dates from around 1520, was probably commissioned by Isabella d'Este. The young man turns his head slightly to the side, and his eyes gaze down into the void, as if in introspection. His pensiveness is combined with a hint of melancholy, yet his expression is wakeful and eloquent. The lavishly curled hair lends the head a strong sculptural appeal. Despite the alternation of smoothly polished suifaces, protruding forms, and linear accents, Antico infuses the bust with the greatest sense of coherence. In hardly any other work did the artist succeed in conveying such a subtle psychologizing consolidation of the sitter.
Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, known as Antico
Bust of Marcus Aurelius, ca. 1500
Bronze, gold-plated
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienn
This magnificent sculpture of Marcus Aurelius is one of most spectacular responses of the Italian Renaissance to antiquity. The Roman emperor was famous for his wisdom and in the sixteenth century was celebrated as the author of the Meditations.
Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, nicknamed ''Antico'' (c. 1455–1528), has created an entirely new image here, one that represents the experienced ruler at the height of his powers, but still in the vigor of full manhood. The gilding suggests that it must have been an exceptionally costly commission. The papal court in Rome would seem the most likely context for such a splendid and luxurious object as the Bust of Marcus Aurelius.
Represented here is the very moment in the Gospel of Luke in which the archangel Gabriel delivers the good message of God to the Virgin: she has been selected to be the mother of his son, Jesus. In all probability there originally existed Gabriel's bust as a pendant. The intensely animated folds of her gown and the fluttering veil not only indicate Mary's startled pulling away at the moment of the angel's appearance, but in a fashion typical of the High Baroque they also lend tension and drama to the sculpture.
Sebastiano Ricci
The paintings The Rape of the Sabine Women and The Battle of the Romans and Sabines have been conceived as companion pieces and rank among the most monumental and impressive compositions by the Venetian history painter Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). They illustrate a central episode in the Roman founding myth: in the newly founded city of Rome settled a mainly male population so that there was a lack of marriageable women. Romulus invited the Sabines, who lived in the surrounding countryside, to attend a festive banquet, in the course of which armed Roman troops abducted their women so as to ensure the Eternal Cityfuture. The Sabines swore vengeance and called for a battle toretaliate. However, the Sabine women, fearing not only for their brothers and fathers but also for their now-husbands and sons, interposed themselves between the battle lines and brought the conflict, which was eventually settled by merging the two regions under a dual government, to an end.
Giovanni Toschini
The monumental marble bust of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus fascinates with the expressive emotion of the internally agitated thinker, who turns to the right with facial features almost distorted with pain and a plaintively open mouth. The protruding eyebrows, the wrinkles on the forehead and the corners of his eyes, and the tears running down his cheeks intensify the expressive effect. The sweepingly curved cloak that envelops the head at the rear further illustrates the figure's intense inner experience. That the philosopher is turned to the side suggests that there was originally a second bust, which must certainly have been the laughing Democritus. The pair is often complemented by a globe as a symbol of human life, which is wept over by the one and mocked by the other.
Canaletto
The ltalian vedutist and landscape painter Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697–1768), known as Canaletto, acquired fame with numerous painted views of his native city Venice: his almost photorealist depictions were created with the aid of a camera obscura.
Giovanni Antonio Canal gen. Canaletto
View of the Estuary of the Canale di Cannaregio, ca 1735-1742
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
His The Cannaregio Canal offers a picturesque vista of the lagoon city: several boats and figures animate the scenery, which is bathed in warm light. Lying in the shade, the bridge in the middle ground forms a spatial separation between the gleaming palazzi in the foreground and the houses of the ghetto, which are represented in slightly darker colors.
The Piazza San Marco in Venice shows the prominent motif of the square Canaletto captured time and again from various perspectives. Starting out from the Palazzo Ducale, here it extends from today's Biblioteca Marciana and the Procuratie Nuove. Stalls and colorful staffage figures enliven the scene and give it an everyday atmosphere.
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Portrait of Prince Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein in the Full Regalia of the Order of the Golden Fleece (1696–1772), 1740
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
To document the glorious moment of his appointment as Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein commissioned the epoch's most famous portraitist, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). The artist, who was already eighty-one years old at the time, has depicted the prince frontally and as a full-length figure, wearing the prestigious collar around his neck. In terms of composition type, the picture is an official state portrait. Against the backdrop of an imaginary palace, the sitter is depicted in a majestic pose, surrounded by huge stone pillars and pompous, cloud-like draperies. In its impressively tactile reproduction of the shimmering fabrics and the marble floor, the painting evidences Rigauds exceptional realism and highprecision as a painter.
Franz Anton von Scheidel & Bauer Brothers
As an illustrator, FranzAnton von Scheidel(1731–1801) documented the newly gained insights and discoveries of the Swedish scientist Carl von Linné. The drawings in Scheidel's Album of 80 Watercolors of Fishes or in his Album of 100 Watercolors of Birds identify the artist not only as a keen observer of nature but also as a skillful colorist. Among the probably most impressive scientific illustrations by his hand is the series Conches in Watercolor after Johann Carl Megerle von Mühlfeld, which comprises more than 200 sheets. The artist delved into the wealth of color and form of the various shells and snails, studying them with remarkable precision. Rendering their diversified surface textures in his virtuoso watercolor technique, he has lent the conches a three-dimensional and tactile quality through a most refined description using hard shadows.
These depictions seem to be the last documents of a now-lost cabinet of natural curiosities compiled under Prince Johann I von Liechtenstein as collector and Megerle von Mühlfeld as scientific consultant.
A work closely related to the history of the Hause of Liechtenstein is the sumptuous fourteen-volume tome Liber regni vegetabilis(Book of the Plant Kingdom, also known as Hortus Botanicus), assembled over a period of more than thirty years. On 2,748 pages, the compilation contains illustrations of some 3,100 different species of plants. The book's initiator was the physician and monk Norbert Boccius from the convent of the Brothers Hospitallers at Valtice. Boccius had close ties with the Liechtenstein family and from 1799 on gave the work to them in successive installments.
Most of the illustrations are by the hand of the Valtice-born brothers Joseph Anton (1756–1831), Franz Andreas (1758–1840), and Ferdinand Lukas Bauer (1760–1826). They likely began working on this large-scale project shortly after 1770, when they were only ten, twelve, and fourteen years old-a fact that earned the brothers the reputation of being "child prodigies" during their own lifetime.
Ferdinand GeorgWaldmüller
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865) was not only remarkably successful as a portraitist and genre painter but also as a landscapist and, above all, painter of still lifes. In this discipline the artist benefited from his profound training as a miniaturist: especially his depictions of flowers were admired for their freshness, brilliant colors, and virtuoso rendition of details. Waldmüller mostly arranges his compositions against black backdrops, thereby achieving an effective coloristic contrastto the sheen of the pieces of fruit and blossoms, the gleam of the silver, or the dull white of the vases. The artist skillfully sets the matte and waxy surface of the flowers against the hard, metallic luster of the vessels and dishes. In his compositions, Waldmüller has depicted an innumerable diversity of richly nuanced textures. The result is an impressive play of light and shadow, of reflection and opacity. In 1829 Waldmüller traveled to the Salzkammergut for the first time.
His painting View of Lake Altaussee and the Dachstein betrays the wonderful idiosyncrasy with which the artist has interpreted the Biedermeier landscape. The imposing mountainscape is practically devoid of humans: only in the middle ground can we see a handful of houses along a strip of dense forest, against which the sunlit mountain massif and the sparkling blue lake are sublimely set off. Waldmüller knew how to lend his View of the Dachstein with Lake Hallstattan outstanding presence and virtually palpable luminosity through his intense pleinairism. In the history of Austrian painting, the picture is considered a milestone on the way to modernism, due to its enhanced and almost Impressionist atmosphere.
In addition to images of the Madonna, the Ecce Homo motif became akey theme of Christian art starting in the Trecento. In their depictions of Christ as the Man of Sorrows, both
Naddo Ceccarelli
Christ as the Man of Sorrows, ca. 1347
Tempera and gold on panel
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
Naddo Ceccarelli (active c. 1330–60)
and Marco Palmezzano (1459–1539) have succeeded in depicting Jesus's silent suffering in a most unique fashion. The two paintings represent highlights of religious art from the Princely Collections. The figure of the dead Savior is shown in the pose of a half-length figure standing in a sarcophagus that is also typical of icon painting. The unnatural posture illustrates the divinity of Christ, who died as a human.
A devotional painting from fifteenth-century Ferrara was equally intended to arouse sympathy and compassion in the viewer. The Redeemer wears the coronation rohe and crown of thorns, his facial features expressing silent, introverted grief rather than suffering. This type of image in which the figure of Christ is removed from any narrative context is referred to as Christ in Repose.
Antico
The medalist, goldsmith, and sculptor Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi (c. 1455–1528) was Mantua's leading sculptor at the time. His nickname ''Antico '' testifies to his profound knowledge of the classical word.
This Bust of a Youth, which dates from around 1520, was probably commissioned by Isabella d'Este. The young man turns his head slightly to the side, and his eyes gaze down into the void, as if in introspection. His pensiveness is combined with a hint of melancholy, yet his expression is wakeful and eloquent. The lavishly curled hair lends the head a strong sculptural appeal. Despite the alternation of smoothly polished suifaces, protruding forms, and linear accents, Antico infuses the bust with the greatest sense of coherence. In hardly any other work did the artist succeed in conveying such a subtle psychologizing consolidation of the sitter.
Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, known as Antico
Bust of Marcus Aurelius, ca. 1500
Bronze, gold-plated
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienn
This magnificent sculpture of Marcus Aurelius is one of most spectacular responses of the Italian Renaissance to antiquity. The Roman emperor was famous for his wisdom and in the sixteenth century was celebrated as the author of the Meditations.
Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, nicknamed ''Antico'' (c. 1455–1528), has created an entirely new image here, one that represents the experienced ruler at the height of his powers, but still in the vigor of full manhood. The gilding suggests that it must have been an exceptionally costly commission. The papal court in Rome would seem the most likely context for such a splendid and luxurious object as the Bust of Marcus Aurelius.
Represented here is the very moment in the Gospel of Luke in which the archangel Gabriel delivers the good message of God to the Virgin: she has been selected to be the mother of his son, Jesus. In all probability there originally existed Gabriel's bust as a pendant. The intensely animated folds of her gown and the fluttering veil not only indicate Mary's startled pulling away at the moment of the angel's appearance, but in a fashion typical of the High Baroque they also lend tension and drama to the sculpture.
Sebastiano Ricci
The paintings The Rape of the Sabine Women and The Battle of the Romans and Sabines have been conceived as companion pieces and rank among the most monumental and impressive compositions by the Venetian history painter Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734). They illustrate a central episode in the Roman founding myth: in the newly founded city of Rome settled a mainly male population so that there was a lack of marriageable women. Romulus invited the Sabines, who lived in the surrounding countryside, to attend a festive banquet, in the course of which armed Roman troops abducted their women so as to ensure the Eternal Cityfuture. The Sabines swore vengeance and called for a battle toretaliate. However, the Sabine women, fearing not only for their brothers and fathers but also for their now-husbands and sons, interposed themselves between the battle lines and brought the conflict, which was eventually settled by merging the two regions under a dual government, to an end.
Giovanni Toschini
The monumental marble bust of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus fascinates with the expressive emotion of the internally agitated thinker, who turns to the right with facial features almost distorted with pain and a plaintively open mouth. The protruding eyebrows, the wrinkles on the forehead and the corners of his eyes, and the tears running down his cheeks intensify the expressive effect. The sweepingly curved cloak that envelops the head at the rear further illustrates the figure's intense inner experience. That the philosopher is turned to the side suggests that there was originally a second bust, which must certainly have been the laughing Democritus. The pair is often complemented by a globe as a symbol of human life, which is wept over by the one and mocked by the other.
Canaletto
The ltalian vedutist and landscape painter Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697–1768), known as Canaletto, acquired fame with numerous painted views of his native city Venice: his almost photorealist depictions were created with the aid of a camera obscura.
Giovanni Antonio Canal gen. Canaletto
View of the Estuary of the Canale di Cannaregio, ca 1735-1742
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
His The Cannaregio Canal offers a picturesque vista of the lagoon city: several boats and figures animate the scenery, which is bathed in warm light. Lying in the shade, the bridge in the middle ground forms a spatial separation between the gleaming palazzi in the foreground and the houses of the ghetto, which are represented in slightly darker colors.
The Piazza San Marco in Venice shows the prominent motif of the square Canaletto captured time and again from various perspectives. Starting out from the Palazzo Ducale, here it extends from today's Biblioteca Marciana and the Procuratie Nuove. Stalls and colorful staffage figures enliven the scene and give it an everyday atmosphere.
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Hyacinthe Rigaud
Portrait of Prince Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein in the Full Regalia of the Order of the Golden Fleece (1696–1772), 1740
Oil on canvas
© LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna
To document the glorious moment of his appointment as Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Joseph Wenzel I von Liechtenstein commissioned the epoch's most famous portraitist, Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743). The artist, who was already eighty-one years old at the time, has depicted the prince frontally and as a full-length figure, wearing the prestigious collar around his neck. In terms of composition type, the picture is an official state portrait. Against the backdrop of an imaginary palace, the sitter is depicted in a majestic pose, surrounded by huge stone pillars and pompous, cloud-like draperies. In its impressively tactile reproduction of the shimmering fabrics and the marble floor, the painting evidences Rigauds exceptional realism and highprecision as a painter.
Franz Anton von Scheidel & Bauer Brothers
As an illustrator, FranzAnton von Scheidel(1731–1801) documented the newly gained insights and discoveries of the Swedish scientist Carl von Linné. The drawings in Scheidel's Album of 80 Watercolors of Fishes or in his Album of 100 Watercolors of Birds identify the artist not only as a keen observer of nature but also as a skillful colorist. Among the probably most impressive scientific illustrations by his hand is the series Conches in Watercolor after Johann Carl Megerle von Mühlfeld, which comprises more than 200 sheets. The artist delved into the wealth of color and form of the various shells and snails, studying them with remarkable precision. Rendering their diversified surface textures in his virtuoso watercolor technique, he has lent the conches a three-dimensional and tactile quality through a most refined description using hard shadows.
These depictions seem to be the last documents of a now-lost cabinet of natural curiosities compiled under Prince Johann I von Liechtenstein as collector and Megerle von Mühlfeld as scientific consultant.
A work closely related to the history of the Hause of Liechtenstein is the sumptuous fourteen-volume tome Liber regni vegetabilis(Book of the Plant Kingdom, also known as Hortus Botanicus), assembled over a period of more than thirty years. On 2,748 pages, the compilation contains illustrations of some 3,100 different species of plants. The book's initiator was the physician and monk Norbert Boccius from the convent of the Brothers Hospitallers at Valtice. Boccius had close ties with the Liechtenstein family and from 1799 on gave the work to them in successive installments.
Most of the illustrations are by the hand of the Valtice-born brothers Joseph Anton (1756–1831), Franz Andreas (1758–1840), and Ferdinand Lukas Bauer (1760–1826). They likely began working on this large-scale project shortly after 1770, when they were only ten, twelve, and fourteen years old-a fact that earned the brothers the reputation of being "child prodigies" during their own lifetime.
Ferdinand GeorgWaldmüller
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865) was not only remarkably successful as a portraitist and genre painter but also as a landscapist and, above all, painter of still lifes. In this discipline the artist benefited from his profound training as a miniaturist: especially his depictions of flowers were admired for their freshness, brilliant colors, and virtuoso rendition of details. Waldmüller mostly arranges his compositions against black backdrops, thereby achieving an effective coloristic contrastto the sheen of the pieces of fruit and blossoms, the gleam of the silver, or the dull white of the vases. The artist skillfully sets the matte and waxy surface of the flowers against the hard, metallic luster of the vessels and dishes. In his compositions, Waldmüller has depicted an innumerable diversity of richly nuanced textures. The result is an impressive play of light and shadow, of reflection and opacity. In 1829 Waldmüller traveled to the Salzkammergut for the first time.
His painting View of Lake Altaussee and the Dachstein betrays the wonderful idiosyncrasy with which the artist has interpreted the Biedermeier landscape. The imposing mountainscape is practically devoid of humans: only in the middle ground can we see a handful of houses along a strip of dense forest, against which the sunlit mountain massif and the sparkling blue lake are sublimely set off. Waldmüller knew how to lend his View of the Dachstein with Lake Hallstattan outstanding presence and virtually palpable luminosity through his intense pleinairism. In the history of Austrian painting, the picture is considered a milestone on the way to modernism, due to its enhanced and almost Impressionist atmosphere.
Friedrich von Amerling
Alongside Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Friedrich von Amerling (1803–1887) was the leading Austrian portraitist of the
nineteenth century. A keen observer, he used his talent not only for pure
character studies but also documented the self-image of his sitters as members
of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie in a most unique fashion. This
outstanding painting in the Princely Collections shows the melancholy face of a
girl delicately modeled by means of light. Both the black veil the artist has
skillfully draped over her hair and shoulders and the book of music in her hand
identify the depicted as a praying widow. Her brownish green eyes, gently
looking to the left, avoid direct contact with the viewer and give the
impression of deep introspection.
Friedrich Gauermann
Friedrich Gauermann (1807–1862)
established a new naturalistic Viennese landscape school by abandoning the
genre of vedute animated with figures and instead leaning on seventeenth-century
Netherlandish painting. Over the years he accumulated sketches made from
nature, which were then amalgamated in the studio to create ever-new
compositions. He masterfully understood how to combine different ambiences to
forma coherent and convincing whole. Gauermann renders each and every element
of a scene in jewel-like colors and an almost photorealist sharpness. The
signed painting The
Harvest Wagon with
its impressive rendering of a thundery sky is regarded as one of the artist's
absolute masterpieces.
Hans Makart
With a prayer book in her lap and a rosary in
her hands, the elegant lady in this painting by Hans Makart (1840–1884) appears
to be completely lost in thought. What is particularly striking is the great
freedom and spontaneity with which the tonal brown foreground of the picture
has been executed. Since a completely identical costume photograph related to
this work exists, it is probably not an ordinary portrait but rather the
painted likeness of a role in a play: Makart was frequently involved in the
organization and decoration of semi-private theater performances and tableaux
vivants reenacting various works of the visual arts with living people. The
costume of the woman depicted leads back to the Elizabethan age or to the epoch
of Charles V, which Makart likewise studied intensively. This outstanding
masterpiece shows the Egyptian queen Cleopatra at the moment of her death,
sitting upright, alone, staring into oblivion. Hans Makart has depicted the
pharaoh on the verge of her demise, brought about by the bite of a snake, in a
sensuous nakedness that can hardly be surpassed in its immediacy. The
complexion and the textural details of the fabrics and draperies lavishly
enveloping the body have been rendered with equal refinement. The famous
Burgtheater actress Charlotte Wolter posed for the painting. The picture shows the
artist at the height of his creative powers. Receptive to all currents of
contemporary painting in Europe, he opened the door to the final phase of
Viennese painting in the nineteenth century.
