(Vienna 1793–1865) Portrait of a Young Man in a Blue Coat, signed and dated Waldmüller 1823, oil on canvas, 71.5 x 58 cm, framed, craquelure, (Rei)

Illustrated and catalogued in: Agnes Husslein-Arco and Sabine Grabner (publishers), exhibition catalogue Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793–1865, Belvedere, Louvre, published by Christian Brandstätter, Vienna 2009, cat. no. 14, p.42. This portrait of a gentleman by Waldmüller has only recently been discovered and was exhibited for the first time in the 2009 exhibition “Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793–1865” at the Belvedere in Vienna. Painted around 1823, it is one of Waldmüller’s earliest portraits and, as such, of particular note. The figure portrayed, a young man whose identity is unknown, faces forward, set against a neutral olive-green backdrop. Waldmüller uses this frontality, together with a complete focus on the subject of the portrait, to capture the momentary, psychological expression on the sitter’s face. The intensity with which the subject looks out at the observer lends him an aura of self-confidence. A light smile flits over the sitter’s face, lending him a natural and personable appearance in spite of the respectable dress with its high-necked collar. The lighting and gradation of tone lend the young man a three-dimensional quality. Here Waldmüller demonstrates a feel for the material appearance of the skin, hair, and stiff collar, as well as the velvety outerwear. But the complete absence of any particular attributes or markers makes it difficult to identify the sitter. Waldmüller is, however, regarded as a chronicler of Vienna’s artistic, theatrical and musical life of the 1820’s. The typically small Viennese format of this painting, one clearly preferred by Waldmüller’s clients because of its private character, has a levelling effect, so that it is only possible to deduce the sitter’s social status by his clothing and attitude. (Exhibition catalogue Belvedere 2009, p. 71, 77). Waldmüller started his career as a painter of miniatures, a period during which he learned and perfected his skills of close observation and detailed precision. Throughout his life Waldmüller felt the compulsion to paint portraits. Without doubt, his most important works were either portraits or representations of landscapes. It was the painter’s principle intention to portray the model as realistically as possible and to faithfully reproduce every detail. (Sabine Grabner, Mehr als Biedermeier, Klassizismus, Romantik und Realismus in der Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna-Munich 2006, p. 100). Grimschitz speaks of a “theme of calm sitting”, one which is lent an exceptional mutability in Waldmüller’s paintings, above all in the psychological expression. The more reserved the play of features - avoiding exaggeration of both the expression and physical appearance - the more lively and greater the active tension Waldmüller lends his subjects. The models sit for the painter with a natural unselfconsciousness, the subjectiveness of Waldmüller’s perception so completely denied that the figures portrayed appear to have a character entirely their own and their own active autonomy. (Bruno Grimschitz, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Salzburg 1957, p.39, 42). Provenance: Private Viennese property