Lot 32

Franz Eybl (1806 - 1880) (zugeschrieben) PORTRAIT EINES MANNES IN UNIFORM

This male portrait by a leading Czech Empire-style portrait painter of the early 19th century, Antonín Machek, whose portraits are among the very best of the period, is a beautiful work that represents Machek's method of depicting the model without flamboyance or pathos. The artist focused on portraying the likenesses of major figures, particularly artists, writers and scientists. The face of the portrayed man is distinctive for its apt and lifelike individual characteristics and delicate color, shaped by gentle pink gradations and an exact rendering of all the details. The half-figure of a man reveals in small details the character of the person portrayed. Thanks to the precisely executed gold-crumpled collar, we can estimate that he is a high-ranking man with a significant rank - an officer, a prominent civil servant, probably under retirement. From the opinion of PhDr. Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová: "The presented unsigned brilliantly painted portrait of a man in uniform bears all the characteristic features of Machek's masterful art, after comparison with Machek's other portraits we can probably date it back to around 1840. It is undoubtedly one of the artist's best portraits."