Family I, 1925

From May 1925, Herbert Boeckl (1894–1966) returned to working primarily in Carinthia, where this portrait of his family was created. The painter had been married to Klagenfurt-born Maria Plahna (1898–1992) since 21st July 1919; the couple would go on to have nine children. Boeckl’s father-in-law continued to support the family financially until the early 1930s, since the Expressionist artist’s early works were harshly criticized in the arts pages. The Viennese art dealer Gustav Nebehay (1881–1935) also helped to secure the economic survival of the artist’s family through an open-ended commission contract with advance payment. The group portrait Family I shows, from left to right, the eldest daughter Martina (born in 1920), Maria Boeckl and a nanny with the second-eldest daughter Maria (born in 1924). One year later, Herbert Boeckl created a second version of the family portrait with minor adaptations.

Text Leopold Museum