Otto Pilny

Sale: Neumeister Auctions, Munich, 8 December 2022, lot 539

Purchased from the above sale by the present owner

This distinguished portrait of a north African tribal leader stands out in Pilny’s oeuvre on account of the rarity of its subject but also its rigorous academic execution which contrasts with his later, softer technique. Armed with an early nineteenth-century Moroccan snaphaunce long-gun, and an Ottoman pistol whose butt is just visible above his belt, the sitter’s proud bearing and impeccable appearance speak of a man of power and authority. His identity is not known; however, given that the painting was executed in Cairo and is inscribed as such, he was likely a local or visiting notable. As grand as the sheikh is the painting’s elaborate tabernacle frame, no doubt commissioned by one of the painting’s early European owners.

Though little is known of Pilny's early artistic career, it may have been during a brief period of study in Vienna that he was encouraged to travel abroad. Ludwig Deutsch (1855-1935), Rudolf Ernst (1854-1932), and Carl Leopold Müller (1834-1892) had all made this city synonymous with Orientalist art, exhibiting their pictures of Middle Eastern life to great acclaim. Pilny's first trip to Egypt – the favorite destination of the Austro-Hungarian school – took place in 1889; a second journey followed three years later. The paintings that resulted record not merely the landscapes and people that Pilny encountered, but the magical effects of Eastern light and sun.