Portrait of a Gentleman, Lithograph by G. Wiedenbauer, 1845
€ 155
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1845
Mapmaker / artist
G. Wiedenbauer (artist and lithographer, signed in the stone)
Publisher
Not named on the sheet
Technique
Tinted lithograph
Coloring
Tinted
Sheet size
30 × 21 cm (11.8 × 8.3 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14343-53
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Good condition for its age. Light toning with a few small dark spots in the lower left margin and faint soiling at the edges. The image is clean. Please review the images for further condition details.
About this sheet
An original lithographed portrait of a gentleman, signed and dated in the stone at lower right "G. Wiedenbauer 1845". The sitter is not named on the sheet.
He is shown at half length, facing the viewer, a man of about forty with a high, balding forehead, full cheeks and long side whiskers. He wears a dark coat with wide lapels over a double breasted waistcoat drawn in a loose check, a dark cravat with a small pin, and he holds a rolled paper or folded document against his side at the right. The head is modeled with great softness, while the coat and waistcoat are handled in freer, more open strokes, and the figure is set against a lightly shaded ground that fades into the margin.
The image is printed on a slightly darker tinted rectangle, laid on the larger white sheet, which gives the portrait a warm tone and a frame of its own. Georg Wiedenbauer was a portrait lithographer active in the first half of the 1840s, and this sheet is a good example of the Biedermeier portrait lithograph, made to record a likeness for family, friends or colleagues.
Lithography, invented by Alois Senefelder in Munich in 1796, allowed the artist to draw directly on the stone with greasy crayon, so a lithographed portrait keeps the immediacy of a chalk drawing. In the German speaking lands and in Austria it became the favorite medium for private and public portraits in the decades before photography.
The quiet, sympathetic characterization and the fine drawing of the face make this an attractive portrait in its own right. Framed with a wide mat it would suit a study, a hallway or a group of nineteenth century portraits.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
