Joseph Karl STIELER (Attributed)
Otto von Griechenland
Inscribed on plaque, lower part of frame:
OTTO
König von Griechenland, 1832 – 1862
On the reverse, an old paper label printed “Kgl. Bayer. Staatseisenbahnen” [Royal Bavarian State Railways], with the place name “Von Adelschlag” [from Adelschlag] and further partially illegible handwritten annotations.
70.5 x 56.5 cm
97.5 x 83.5 cm (with frame)
Provenance
private collection, Greece
Early provenance: Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes, Munich, formerly at Nymphenburg Palace;
Adelschlag, Eichstätt , Bavaria.
Estimate
€ 9 000 - 15 000
Sold for € 30,355.00
The final sale price includes buyer's premium, VAT and artist's resale right (if applicable)
Notes
Label on the reverse:
Königlich Bayerische Staatseisenbahnen (Royal Bavarian State Railways)
Von Adelschlag (Originating from the municipality of Adelschlag in the Eichstätt district of Bavaria)
It appears that this particular work was exhibited in the building of the Royal Bavarian State Railways as a loan, possibly from the municipality of Adelschlag in the Eichstätt district of Bavaria.
An identical work is exhibited at the Benaki Museum under inventory number ΓΕ 8986.
Joseph Karl Stieler
Joseph Karl Stieler was a German painter. From 1820 until 1855 he worked as royal court painter of the Bavarian kings. He is known for his Neoclassical portraits, especially for the Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, as well as his emblematic portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, which has become one of his most famous works.
Born in the city of Mainz to a long-established family of engravers, punchcutters and die makers, Stieler received some artistic training from his father, August Friedrich Stieler (1736–1789). After the early death of his father, Joseph Karl autodidactically completed his apprenticeship and began his career as a painter of miniatures, which were increasingly sought after by bourgeois circles After Mainz had been occupied by French revolutionary troops in 1792, Stieler followed the expelled court of Prince-Archbishop Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal to Aschaffenburg. Here he met with the later Archbishop Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg, who became his most important patron and sponsor.
From 1802 to 1805 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in the master class of Heinrich Füger. Stieler’s portrait style was most especially shaped during his work in the Parisian atelier of François Gérard, a student of Jacques-Louis David. In 1808, he established himself as an independent portraitist in the city of Frankfurt and in 1810 travelled through Italy. From 1812 he worked at the court of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria.
In 1816, he again travelled to Vienna to paint the portrait of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Between February and April 1820, he worked on his portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, which is probably the most well-known representation of the composer today. In 1847 he also painted the portrait of Lola Montez, whose affair with King Ludwig I of Bavaria led to the monarch’s abdication the next year.
Stieler retired in 1855 to live at his country home in Tegernsee. He died in Munich three years later. His son Karl Stieler (1842–1885) became a well-known writer.