Old Master and 19th Century European Art

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Lot 85
  • 85

Bartholomäus Ignaz Weiss Munich circa 1740-1814

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 USD
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Description

  • Bartholomäus Ignaz Weiss
  • Portrait of Georges Desmarées (1697-1776) at his Easel painting a portrait of Johann Christian Thomas Winck (1738-1797)
  • signed and dated lower right B.Weÿss/ Fecit/ 1772
    inscribed beneath the window sill Georgius de Marées Aulae Boicae Pictor Prima:/rius.; and on the reverse Altera imago est Christiani Winkii Aulae/ Boicae Pictoris.
  • oil on metal
  • 12 1/4 by 9 1/2 in.
  • 31.1 by 24.1 cm.

Condition

Plate is flat and stable. Under a dirty, unevenly applied varnish. In the folds of drapery between the painter's arm and his body the paint is lifting ever so slightly. This appears stable for now, but it should probably be addressed. Ultraviolet does not reveal any obvious retouches. Painting is in a lovely state and may be hung in its current condition. In an elaborately carved and giltwood frame with nice retention of carved details and gilding with minor abrasion to gilding.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

This picture is an example of "Freundschaftsbild," literally "Friendship-painting" which depicts two or more artists together, a popular motif in German art from the late 18th, and into the 19th Century.1  This piece, in fact, was painted by Bartholomäus Ignaz Weiss, one of the leading artists in Munich in the second half of the 18th Century, and repeats the composition of a just such a painting by Christian Winck, where he depicted Georges Desmarées, the Swedish-born first painter at the court of Munich, in the act of painting in turn a portrait of Winck himself (now Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Inv. Nr. L540).  Both pictures are painted on white metal (zinc?) and the present painting is dated the year after the Munich example.

1.  For an exhaustive discussion of the subject, please see K. Lankheit, Das Freundschaftsbild der Romantik, Heidelberg 1952.