Eugen von Blaas

Wally Findlay Galleries, New York
Private Collection, Ohio
Mary Virginia Hannan, Ohio (by descent from the above)
Gifted from the above's estate to the present owners

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting on wood has what appears to be an original cradle on the reverse which nicely stabilizes the paint layer. The picture is dirty and will respond well to cleaning. There are a few small retouches in the face visible under ultraviolet light addressing slight blemishes in the cheeks in a couple of cracks. The only other retouches of note are on either side of the calves, which most likely address with pentimenti. Overall the picture is in excellent state and will respond well to cleaning.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Eugen von Blaas was born in 1843 in the small Italian suburb of Albano, located ten miles outside of Rome on the Appian Way. Von Blaas's father, Carl von Blaas, enjoyed a profitable career as an artist due to Albano's position as a suburbicarian see of the Roman Catholic Church (a diocese reserved for the highest order of Cardinals) as well as its reputation as a popular summer destination for Roman families, a trend which began in the eighteenth century. These factors provided Carl von Blaas with a steady influx of portrait and church commissions. His situation changed in the late 1840s as nationalistic tensions flared up around the capital city and he moved his family to Vienna to pursue a teaching position. The northern climate was unsuitable for his wife's fragile health, so soon thereafter they re-located to Venice, where Eugen's artistic talent was first noticed. Von Blaas was educated in Venice, but also frequently traveled back and forth to Vienna, where he assisted his father with a series of frescoes at the Arsenal. In 1866 he traveled to London via Paris and in 1867 met and fell in love with Paola Prina, a wealthy young woman whom he married three years later. The von Blaases lived in Venice for most of the remainder of their life, enjoying a very active life in Venetian society, including countless social engagements and frequent hunting trips for Eugen. It was in Venice that Eugen von Blaas's artistic skill blossomed, and he received numerous commissions, which allowed he and his family to take up permanent residence in a beautiful palazzo on the Zattere.

 

By 1881, von Blaas had established himself as the "painter of Venetian beauties." The Market Girl, created in 1900, is emblematic of this subject. Here a beautiful young fruit seller is flanked by her wares - baskets filled with brightly colored fruit, including pomegranates and apples, among others. In addition to her vibrant patchwork dress, she dons what appears to be a version of pattens, overshoes or clogs with a wooden heel held onto the foot by a leather or cloth band, designed in the Middle Ages to protect the wearer's thin-soled shoes. Here, she wears them alone over opaque black stockings. Her gold jewelry and teal head scarf frame her beautiful face and abundant curls, a hairstyle then at the height of fashion. Like all of von Blaas' peasant girls, she is cheerful and self-assured. Thomas Wassibauer, author of the 2005 catalogue raisonné on von Blaas, credits the artist's ability to paint figures so beautifully to his time spent in Vienna with his father between 1860 and 1872. Wassibauer writes of the influence this period had upon Eugen: "the artist's infinite skill showing glorious flesh tones [used] a technique Eugen learned from his father Karl. In his autobiography, Karl von Blaas describes how he studied Titian's technique and learned to build up flesh colors using different glazes in order to produce a natural and three-dimensional effect... Eugen's work with his father in Vienna during the 1860's could still be seen to resonate for the next fifty years of his long career" (Thomas Wassibauer, Eugen Von Blaas, Das Werk, Georg Homs AG, 2005, pp. 16-17).