5.5 Still-Life in Austria and Bohemia
Until well into the 19th century, the ‘academic’ flower piece of painters like Abraham Mignon, Jan van Huijsum and Rachel Ruysch always found approval and imitation in places of academic schooling and painting, in Vienna as much as in Düsseldorf.1 Franz Theodor Dallinger (1710-1771) must have been one of the first [1].2 Works by him were exhibited in Prague in 1938, which hitherto remained unknown to me.3 Another painter from Prague, Andreas Kinderman, was a member of the painters’ guild in The Hague in 1722 [2-4].4
1
Franz Theodor Dallinger
Fruit piece in a forest landscape
2
Andreas Kinderman
Still life with fruit, flowers and sphinx, c. 1700
Náchod, Náchod Castle, inv./cat.nr. 1885
3
Andreas Kinderman
Still life with fruit in a glass bowl, c. 1700
Náchod, Náchod Castle, inv./cat.nr. 1939
4
Andreas Kinderman
Bouquet in a stoneware vase with a relief
Prague, Strahov Monastery, inv./cat.nr. O 483
5
Josef Pichler
Flower arrangement on a stone table, 1778 to be dated
Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, inv./cat.nr. 157
Johann Baptist Hälszel (1710/12-1777) painted flowers and still-lifes in the manner of Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Abraham Mignon and Jan van Huijsum [6-8].5 Josef Pichler (1730-1808)6 [5] and Johann Baptist Drechsler (1756-1811) made very decorative flower paintings à la Jan van Huijsum and Rachel Ruysch [9-12].
6
Johann Baptist Hälszel
Flower still life on a stone table, between c. 1725-1777
London (England), art dealer Koetser (London)
7
Johann Baptist Hälszel
Roses, asters, a poppy, convulvuli and other flowers in a glass vase on a marble ledge, dated 1776
8
Johann Baptist Hälszel
Still life with oranges, grapes and a canary
9
Johann Baptist Drechsler
Large bouquet with peach and grapes, dated 1810
Vienna, art dealer C. Bednarczyk
10
Johann Baptist Drechsler
Flower piece with bird's nest, dated 1804
Schloss Wörlitz, Dessau (Dessau-Roßlau), Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz, inv./cat.nr. 1-161
11
Johann Baptist Drechsler
Still life of roses, peonies, a tulip, a poppy, morning glories and other flowers in an urn resting on a stone ledge within a niche, dated 1798
12
Johann Baptist Drechsler
Still life of roses, peonies, morning glories, an iris, a cock's comb and other flowers in an urn resting on a stone ledge within a niche, c. 1798
Johann Nepomuk Mayrhofer (1764-1832) copied Abraham Mignon [13-14],7 while Johann Knapp (1778-1833) kept himself to the more simple pieces from the beginning of the 17th century, for example Roeland Savery [15-16]. Sebastian Wegmayr (1776-1857) [17-19], professor of flower painting at the academy, didn’t know anything better to do than to imitate Jan van Huijsum’s flower bouquets.
13
Abraham Mignon
Still life with fruit, fish and a bird's nest, 1670s
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv./cat.nr. 577
14
Johann Nepomuk Mayrhofer after Abraham Mignon
Fruit in a ruin, dated 1795
Munich, private collection Wilhelm Löwenfeld
15
Johann Knapp
Flower piece in a niche
Sankt Pölten, Niederösterreichische Landesmuseum
16
Johann Knapp
Flower piece in a niche, dated 1812
17
Sebastian Wegmayr
Flower piece in a glass vase on a marble ledge, c. 1835
Private collection
18
Sebastian Wegmayr
Flower still life in glass vase, 1830
Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, inv./cat.nr. 2550
19
Sebastian Wegmayr
Still-life of flowers in a glass vase, c. 1830
Sankt Pölten, Museum Niederösterreich, inv./cat.nr. 6495
Naturally, Austrian still-life painting did not consist of flower painting only. Franz Michael Siegmund von Purgau (1678-1754)8 and Philipp von Purgau (1681-after 1720) for instance created ‘thistle paintings’ in the style of Marseus van Schrieck and Hamilton [20-22]. They also made paintings with birds in imitation of Melchior d’ Hondecoeter and Jan Weenix [23-25].
20
Franz Michael Siegmund von Purgau
Still life with a golden rod, birds and butterflies
Prague, Strahov Monastery, inv./cat.nr. 0 715
21
Franz Michael Siegmund von Purgau
Lawn with thistle, frogs and dragonfly, dated 1738
Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, inv./cat.nr. 5592
22
Franz Michael Siegmund von Purgau
Lawn with strawberries and fly agari, dated 1738
Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, inv./cat.nr. 5591
23
Philipp von Purgau
Still life with dead birds and stag beetles
Vienna, Museum im Schottenstift, inv./cat.nr. 77
24
Philipp von Purgau
Still life with dead birds and marten
Vienna, Museum im Schottenstift, inv./cat.nr. 78
25
Philipp von Purgau
Still life with dead birds and a squirrel
Vienna, Museum im Schottenstift, inv./cat.nr. 82
Jan Antonin Vocásek (1706-1757) must have been a talented artist, who painted birds [26-28], fish [29], flowers and other still-lifes in his hometown of Reichenau [Rychnov nad Kněžnou].9 As an example of his art we have to point out a trompe-l’œil painting of a woodpecker before a wooden wall, which was also exhibited in Prague in 1938 [30].10
26
Jan Antonín Vocásek
Trompe-l'oeil of a jay against a wooden wall and cherries, c. 1740
Rychnov nad Kněžnou, private collection Rychnov Château, inv./cat.nr. RK 714/253
27
Jan Antonín Vocásek
Still life with a partridge, small birds and dominoes, c. 1740-1743
Rychnov nad Kněžnou, private collection Rychnov Château, inv./cat.nr. RK 715/251
28
Jan Antonín Vocásek
Still life with a bird, fruit and flowers, with cards and a tobacco pouch
Rychnov nad Kněžnou, private collection Rychnov Château, inv./cat.nr. RK 718/252
29
Jan Antonín Vocásek
Still life of a salmon caught at the river Orlice near Borohradek, dated 1743
Rychnov nad Kněžnou, private collection Rychnov Château, inv./cat.nr. RK 720/1761
30
Jan Antonín Vocásek
Trompe-l'oeil of a woodpecker against a wooden wall, c. 1740
Prague, Národní Galerie v Praze, inv./cat.nr. 717
Austrian animal and hunting paintings on the other hand, are usually more Flemish than Dutch in conception. Martin Ferdinand Quadal (1736-1809)11 [31-32] and Johann Wurzer (1760-1838) [33-34] have painted still-lifes in the Flemish manner. 12
31
Martin Ferdinand Quadal
Fish still life with two cats, dated 1781
Vienna, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, inv./cat.nr. 4052
32
Martin Ferdinand Quadal
Two wolfs attacked by hunting dogs, dated 1772
33
Johann Wurzer
Flower piece in a glass vase, dated 1781
34
Johann Wurzer
Flower piece in a glass vase, early 1780s
Notes
1 [Van Leeuwen 2018] On flower painting in Vienna: Frodl/Frodl-Schneemann 2010.
2 [Van Leeuwen 2018] Dallinger mainly worked in Prague. Except for the illustrated still-life, we only know Flemish-looking still-lifes of vegetables by him (Prague, National Gallery) and hunting still-lifes (RKDimages 291369 and 291372). On Dallinger: Seifertová/Sevcík 1997, p. 24-25, ill. p. 202-203, no. 80 ( ill.), p. 226-227.
3 [Gerson 1942/1983] Prague 1938, nos. 751-752.
4 [Van Leeuwen 2018] Obreen 1877-1890, vol. 5, 142. On Kinderman: Němečková 2012.
5 [Van Leeuwen 2018] Hälszel also painted hunting still-lifes in the manner of Jan Weenix and Carl Wilhelm de Hamilton (RKDimages 291330 and 291328).
6 [Gerson 1942/1983] Illustration in Biermann 1914, no. 126. Pichler was a well-known fresco painter.
7 [Gerson 1942/1983] Hoerschelmann 1897, p. 68, no. 128, ill. [Van Leeuwen 2018] Although Mayrhofer was born in Linz, he worked most of his life in Munich, which is also where he made the Mignon copy. Gerson should have mentioned him in his text on Munich.
8 [Van Leeuwen 2018] On F.M.S. von Purgau: Dossi 1986.
9 [Van Leeuwen 2018] On Vocásek: Zezula 2012. The RKD is grateful for the generous gift of the images of many works in Rychnov Castle. The artworks were entered in the RKD database by trainee Mareike Wietz (Berlin, Freie Univeristät).
10 [Gerson 1942/1983] Prague 1938, no. 277.
11 [Van Leeuwen 2018] After travelling to France, England and Italy, Quadal left Austria permanently in 1790. First he started in England, but from 1793 till 1795 he lived in Holland, where he received many portrait commissions (e.g. RKDimages 291390, 169653, 169652, 148371, 150119, 273245, 125802). Considering his clientele he probably lived in The Hague. After the French marched into the Northern Netherlands, Quadal left for Hamburg, before he finally settled down in Saint Petersburg, as a court painter of tsar Paul I, son of Catherine the Great, who was murdered in 1801. On Quadal: Šafaříková 2012.
12 [Van Leeuwen 2018] Gerson probably referred to a hunting still-life with a dead deer and a huntsman (Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna; image in the Witt Library). We could not get hold of an image.