Lot 108
  • 108

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 EUR
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Description

  • Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
  • DILIGENCE REWARDED
  • Signed and dated lower right Waldmüller 1830 ; Bears a label on the back inscribed by the artist 137 Waldmüller, Der belohnte Fleiss, Eigenth. S[einer] [ka]iserl. Hoheit des ...[H]errn Erzh. Franz Karl
  • Oil on panel
  • 34 x 28,7 cm ; 13 ½ by 11 ¼ in.
huile sur toile

Provenance

Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his wife Archduchess Sophie, Princess of Bavaria, parents of Kaiser Franz Josef I (by 1865) ;
Probably Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, brother of Kaiser Franz Josef and father of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este ;
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (by 1898), heir to the throne, married to Countess Sophie Chotek von Chotkowa und Wognin, Duchess of Hohenberg ;
Duke Max of Hohenberg ;
Purchased from the above by Antal Post de Bekessy in 2010 ;
Thence by descent

Exhibited

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Österreichischer Kunstverein, Vienna, 1865, no. 5 ;
Jubiläums Kunst-Ausstellung, Theill II, 50 Jahre österreichische Malerei, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, 1898, no. 77 ;
F. G. Waldmüller - Eine Auswahl von Sittenbildern, Gallery Martin Suppan, Vienna, 1999

Literature

Bruno Grimschitz, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Salzburg, 1957, p. 300, no. 271, illustrated ;
Rupert Feuchtmüller, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793 - 1865, Leben, Schriften, Werke, Vienna, 1996, p. 447, no. 297, illustrated ;
Martin Suppan, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller: Sittenmalerei im Zeitspiegel; Waldmüllers Einfluss auf die Wiener Genremalerie des Biedermeier, Vienna, 1999,  pp. 25-31, illustrated 

Condition

- cradled panel - two vertical rifts : one running accross the yound man standing up ; the other one from the top border to the baby's shoulder. Under UV light : - retouches alongside the borders and about the rifts.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Painted in 1830 the present work is the second version in oil of this subject. Waldmüller first explored the theme in 1828 in both oil and watercolour (Feuchtmüller, op. cit., nos. 248 & 249). In his catalogue raisonné, Feuchtmüller mistook the first oil version for the present work.

Diligence Rewarded
is one of Waldmüller's earliest paintings of figures in a landscape, for which he later became so renowned.  Having begun his career as a portraitist and copying the Dutch Masters to hone his skills, by the late 1827 he began to focus on the life and traditions of Austria's rural communities, blending naturalism and idealism into his own inimitable style. Compared to his contemporaries, the Romantics Caspar David Friedrich and Joseph Anton Koch, whose landscapes are expressions of the sublime, dwarfing all human staffage, Waldmüller's are altogether more gemütlich (i.e. intimate), putting the figures and narrative at the forefront.

Here, a proud mother in festive local costume runs the blind grandfather's hand over the medal while the boy, his writing slate, book, and quill under his arm, already has his eye on the pastry being held out to him by his grandmother. His father and mother look proudly on. The setting appears to be a valley near Pernitz, to the south west of Vienna, the peak in the background the Schneeberg. Despite the minute attention to verisimilitude – each expression is lovingly captured, the topography recognisable – Waldmüller remained faithful to the tenets of academic teaching, the staged, pyramidal structure of the figures harking back to Leonardo, Raphael, and the Renaissance masters.