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Woman in a Black Gown, “Portrait of Theodora von Gözsy”, 1873

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Oil on canvas
126.5×80 cm

Artists

  • Hans Makart

    (Salzburg 1840–1884 Vienna)

Currently on display at OG4
The year 1873 would prove to be difficult for Hans Makart (1840–1884): The stock market crash on 9th May 1873 meant that the painter’s commissioners lost most of their financial assets. Furthermore, the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts appointed the German-Roman artist Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880) as professor of history painting. Seeing as the Academy’s teaching staff had a sort of monopoly on decoration commissions for monumental buildings along the Ringstrasse, Makart was overlooked. Thus, the artist turned to portraits and salon paintings. One of the first female portraits he created that year shows Theodora von Gözsy (1843–1923). Makart’s technical mastery was already fully developed by this point: He combined fine painting in the flesh tones with an open brushstroke in the depiction of fabric and lace. The artist allegedly gave the work to the depicted as a wedding present, as she married the government councilor Dr. Gustav von Gözsy (1833–1885) on 2nd August 1873.

Text Leopold Museum

Object data

Artist/author
Title
Woman in a Black Gown, “Portrait of Theodora von Gözsy”
Date
1873
Art movement
Historicism
Category
Painting
Material​/technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
126.5×80 cm
Credit line
Private collection
Selection of Reference works
  • Wien 1900. Aufbruch in die Moderne, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Wien 2019 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, ab 15.03.2019).
  • Frauenbilder – Künstlerinnen – 19. und 20. Jahrhundert. Vom Biedermeier bis zur Moderne, hrsg. von Elisabeth Leopold, Wien 2017 (Ausstellungsbroschüre, Leopold Museum, Wien, 07.07.2017–18.09.2017).
  • Gerbert Frodl: Hans Makart. Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, hrsg. von Agnes Husslein-Arco, Weitra 2013.
  • Körper, Gesicht, Seele. Frauenbilder vom 16. bis ins 21. Jahrhundert, hrsg. von Elisabeth Leopold, Wien 2006 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 09.06.2006-02.10.2006).
  • Gerbert Frodl: Hans Makart. Monographie und Werkverzeichnis, Salzburg 1974.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Frodl 1974: 200
  • Frodl 2013: 237
Keywords
woman/girlportraitlacevelvetfashionable womanleaning sidewayshead slanting to the left (fem.)necklacedress/gownornaments/jewelsringscarfornament: plant formsornament: arabesque

If you have further information on this object, please contact us.

Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Theodora von Gözsy (geb. Schulz), Wien (1873-1923); (1)
Maria de Bourcy (geb. von Göszy) , unbek. (ab 1923); (2)
Johann (Hans) de Bourcy, Wien (o.D.); (3)
Kunsthandlung Giese & Schweiger, Wien (vor 1982);
Unbekannter Privatbesitz;
Auktion: 1989, Ader Picard Tajan/Dorotheum, Paris; (4)
Auktion: 13.10.1994, Christie’s London, German and Austrian Art – Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture, Los Nr. 47 (Abb.); (5)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (1994-2010);

  1. Gerbert Frodl, Hans Makart. Monographie und Werkverzeichnis, Salzburg 1974, S. 336, WV 200, „Theodora von Gözsy“
  2. www.geni.com, Einträge zu Gustav, Theodora und Maria von Göszy (07.06.2021)
  3. Beschriftung auf der Bildrückseite: „Hans de Bourcy als Enkel“
  4. Gerbert Frodl, Hans Makart. Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Wien 2013, S. 155, Nr. 237.
  5. www.artprice.com, Eintrag zum Bild (07.06.2021)

For provenance related information, please contact us.

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woman/girlportraitlacevelvetfashionable womanleaning sidewayshead slanting to the left (fem.)necklacedress/gownornaments/jewelsringscarfornament: plant formsornament: arabesque