This magnificent portrait represents a model dressed in the fashion of a 17th century European peasant, with a light grey buttoned linen cape, a wide white collar and white tasselled cords. He also wears a wide-brimmed floppy black hat.
Josef Plank (Hall in Tyrol 1815 - Vienna 1901) was a pupil of Peter Cornelius and Joseph Stieler in Munich and then lived until 1845 in Innsbruck, where he was active as a portrait painter. In 1845 he moved to Vienna where he became a pupil of the Nazarene artists Leopold Kupelwieser and Josef von Fuehrich. In 1870, together with his friend the famous Viennese portraitist Friedrich von Amerling, he travelled extensively through Italy.
Plank was best known for his portraits of nobility and gentry, including Kaiser Franz Joseph, but he also painted miniatures and watercolours. A self-portrait of the artist is on display at the Tiroler Landesmueum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck. His works have been sold at such prestigious auction houses as Christie’s (London) and Dorotheum (Vienna).
Artist: Josef Plank (1815-1901).
Signature: Signed bottom left corner: “Plank”.
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Condition: Excellent.
Canvas: 72 x 58 cm. / 28 x 22 1/2 in.
Frame: 81 x 69 cm. / 32 x 27 1/4 in. Wood, black and gold, classic style.
Origin: Austria.