Artwork
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund is an oil painting by the Biedermeier artist Franz Eybl. It dates from 1843 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund is a self-portrait by Franz Eybl, with the artist himself serving as the main subject and sole figure depicted.
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund is a self-portrait by Franz Eybl, with the artist himself serving as the main subject and sole figure depicted. Created in 1843, the work falls within the genre of portraiture and functions as a direct representation of the painter. The title indicates a red background, which contrasts with the figure and visually isolates the artist's likeness.
As a self-portrait, the painting represents an act of self-examination and personal assertion, capturing Eybl's own image for the viewer.
Technique & Style
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund is executed in oil paint on canvas, a combination consistent with mid-nineteenth-century Austrian portrait practice. The work is classified as a painting and takes the form of a self-portrait, with the artist himself as the depicted subject.
The canvas measures 74.5 cm in height by 58.5 cm in width, yielding a vertical, modestly scaled format suited to an intimate, head-and-shoulders composition. The use of a red ground, referenced in the title, provides a saturated chromatic backdrop against which the figure is set, a device that heightens tonal contrast and directs attention to the sitter's face.
Stylistically, the painting belongs to the portrait tradition of the Biedermeier era, of which Franz Eybl was a representative practitioner. The handling is descriptive and tightly modeled, characteristic of Eybl's documented approach to portraiture, with controlled brushwork and a focus on precise characterization rather than painterly bravura.
History & Provenance
Created in 1843, the self-portrait was painted in oil on canvas by Franz Eybl at the age of twenty-six. The work is dated to the year of its execution and is held in the collection of the Belvedere in Vienna, where it remains today. No record of a specific commission has been documented, and the portrait is considered an autonomous self-representation rather than a commissioned work.
Franz Eybl's 1843 oil painting, Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund, is held in the collection of the Belvedere in Vienna. The work is also associated with the Kunsthistorisches Museum within the provided records, though the primary location is listed as the Belvedere. The painting measures 74.5 cm by 58.5 cm and depicts the artist himself.
No specific inventory or accession numbers are provided in the available sources, nor is there any recorded exhibition history for this specific self-portrait.
Overview
Selbstporträt vor rotem Grund is an oil painting created by Franz Eybl in 1843. It is a portrait of the artist himself.
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