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Portrait of Isabella Reisser, 1885

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Oil on canvas
130.5×90 cm

Artists

  • Anton Romako

    (Vienna 1832–1889 Vienna)

Currently on display at OG4
Isabella Reisser, the wife of the printing company owner and technical director of the Viennese newspaper Neue Freie Presse Christoph Reisser, was portrayed by Anton Romako (1832–1889) in 1885. Her husband commissioned the painter to create two large likenesses of the couple. Romako shows both of them in three-quarter length against a monochrome but nuanced background. The stringent frontality links both depictions, though Romako made a clear distinction between the male and female portrait in terms of expression. Reisser, who looks directly at the beholder, emanates a tremendous sternness. Her open mouth exposes her teeth, distorting her face like a mask. Additionally, the bright, vibrant and short brushstrokes invest her likeness with a vaguely nervous aura. Romako’s portraits boast an almost early-Expressionist style which at times deeply unsettled his contemporaries.

AS, 2021

A closer look

The artwork explained by
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Object data

Artist/author
  • Anton Romako
Title
Portrait of Isabella Reisser
Date
1885
Art movement
Naturalism I Realism
Category
Painting
Material​/technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
130.5×90 cm
Signature
Signed lower left: A. Romako
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 2116
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Anton Romako. Beginn der Moderne, hrsg. von Marianne Hussl-Hörmann/Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Köln 2018 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 06.04.2018–18.06.2018).
  • Anton Romako. Beginn der Moderne, hrsg. von Marianne Hussl-Hörmann/Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Köln 2018 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 06.04.2018–18.06.2018).
  • Fritz Novotny: Der Maler Anton Romako 1832–1889, Wien/München 1954.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Reiter 2010: 516
  • Novotny 1954: 324
Keywords
woman/girlportraitevening dressfanaccessoriesmouth slightly openstanding figure (fem.)

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Familie Reisser, Wien (1885-1954); (1)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (vor 1992-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Fritz Novotny, Der Maler Anton Romako. 1832 – 1889, Wien u. München 1954, Abb. 37, Taf. 38, S. 63f., S. 98, WV 324; Österreichische Galerie, Katalog zur Anton Romako Gedächtnisausstellung, Wien 1950, Abb. 7, S. 20, Nr. 47
  2. Österreichische Galerie, Katalog zu „Der Außenseiter Anton Romako. 1832-1889. Ein Maler der Ringstraßenzeit“, Wien 1992, S. 226, Nr. 79

For provenance related information, please contact us.

Search in collection

woman/girlportraitevening dressfanaccessoriesmouth slightly openstanding figure (fem.)