Karl Joseph Litschauer
1830 – 1871
The Artist and his Model
Medium:
Oil on Canvas
Category:
Dimensions:
68(h) x 54(w) cms
Framed Dimensions:
86(h) x 75.5(w) cms
Signed:
Signed lower Left: 'C. J. Litschauer'
Essay:
Karl Joseph Litschauer began his career as a pupil of Ferdinand Waldmuller at the Academy of Art in Vienna. Later he was apprenticed to the Norwegian painter Adolph Tidemand in Düsseldorf in 1850.
Litschauer spent the first part of his career dedicated to painting scenes from the Thirty Years' War, often imagined scenarios with one or two soldiers fleeing or fighting. Later was to specialise in genre scenes. Generally aimed for a middle-class market with views of parlours and kitchens, some of his work can be found in the Lichtenstein Museum in Vienna as well as the Museum of Wiesbaden.
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This charming painting is one of the more inventive compositions from Litschauer's oeuvre. Self-referential and witty, we see an artist (presumably Litschauer himself) sat at an easel using a very patient dog to model a gorget for a painting of a knight. The rest of the suit of armour hangs on the wall. Many paintings by Litschauer describe a romantic medival setting, so it is satisfying to see the artist pull back the curtain for his audience to reveal his studio practices and in so doing gently tease himself.
Engraved by August Lüttmann and published in 1859 in Das Düsseldorfer Künstler-Album (The Düsseldorf Artist Album). This collection of engravings was published annually from 1851 to 1866 with reproductions of artworks by the Düsseldorf School of Painting. Here Litschauer's work was called Das Billige Modell (The Cheap Model).
Provenance:
Private collection, Austria