Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Franz Xaver Winterhalter pursues a career as a portraitist in the service of several European courts: as official painter in Karlsruhe, he receives commissions from Louis-Philippe, then from Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie, and paints portraits of the Austrian rulers and the imperial family of Mexico. His training brings together drawing, engraving and painting from an early age. From 1818, he studies drawing and copper engraving with Karl Ludwig Schuler in Freiburg im Breisgau; a scholarship from Grand Duke Louis I of Baden then enables him to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he works in the studio of the portraitist Joseph Karl Stieler and earns his living as a lithographer. Appointed in 1828 as drawing teacher to Grand Duchess Sophie of Baden, he settles in Karlsruhe in 1830 and becomes official court painter, although his appointment is not formalised until 1834.

During his stay in Rome, he paints, among other works, Roman Genre Scene (1833), now held in Karlsruhe, in an Italian genre-scene style influenced by the Nazarenes. In Paris, Il dolce farniente is exhibited at the Salon in 1836, followed by The Decameron in 1837; that same year, Winterhalter receives a second-class medal at the Salon. Louis-Philippe commissions around thirty full-length portraits of his relatives, effectively making Winterhalter a court painter. His work is also shown in London: he exhibits at the Royal Academy from 1852 to 1867.

The large group compositions attest to the scale of some commissions. Painted in 1846, The Royal Family brings together Victoria, Prince Albert and their first five children; the painting measures 250.5 × 317.3 cm. From their marriage in 1853, Napoleon III and Eugénie are among his regular patrons. Empress Eugénie Surrounded by Her Ladies-in-Waiting, completed in 1855, is a composition measuring 295 × 420 cm. In 1864 and 1865, Winterhalter paints Franz Joseph and Elisabeth of Austria, as well as Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, and Charlotte of Belgium. He makes several versions of his self-portrait in 1868; the one held in Karlsruhe is signed. He dies of typhus in Frankfurt on 8 July 1873.

Works recorded at auction

Lempertz · Lot 1516

Gewandstudie in Rot und Braun

Kreide in Schwarz und Ölfarbe auf braunem Papier

Auction date : 2016-11-19

Published result : 13640 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 10000

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Dobiaschofsky · Lot 442

Interieur mit Mutter und Kind.

Aquarell und Deckfarben, a

Date to be documented

Published result : 1200 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 1800

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References excluded from statistics: attributions and special lots

These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.

Schuler · Lot 6939

nach Bildnis einer jungen Frau

Gouache

Original catalogue wording

nach Bildnis einer jungen Frau
gouache
Attribution ou qualification signalée dans le catalogue

Catalogue period : 2023-12-11

Attribution recorded in catalogue

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

Estimate : CHF 200–300

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Piguet

D’après Franz Xaver Winterhalter — Portrait de Sophie de Wurtemberg (1818-1877), reine des Pays-Bas

Oil on panel

Original catalogue wording

D’après Franz Xaver Winterhalter — Portrait de Sophie de Wurtemberg (1818-1877), reine des Pays-Bas
huile sur panneau
d'après

Catalogue period : 2022-09-07 — 2022-09-21

After

Published result : 220 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 300–500

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Dobiaschofsky

Portrait of a young lady with a fan.

Oil on wood

Original catalogue wording

Bildnis einer jungen Dame mit Fächer.
Öl auf Holz
Umkreis

Date to be documented

Circle of

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

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Piguet

Dans le goût de Franz Xaver Winterhalter — Portrait 3 enfants et chien,

Oil on canvas

Original catalogue wording

Dans le goût de Franz Xaver Winterhalter — Portrait 3 enfants et chien,
huile sur toile
dans le goût de

Catalogue period : 2018-09-26

dans le goût de

Published result : 1000 CHF

Fees not specified in the available data

Estimate : CHF 1000–1500

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