Lot 21

Franz Leo Ruben (1842 - 1920) YOUNG WOMAN WITH A FAN

Franz Leo Ruben, in Czech sources František Ruben was a German painter, originally from Prague, son of the painter Christian Ruben. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and often sent his works to Vienna for exhibitions. He lived in Rome and Venice and devoted himself to motifs from Italian cities and the countryside. He also painted historicizing portraits in Renaissance dress, often, and the present Girl with Fan falls into this sphere. In subject matter it falls within the Italian paintings created in Venice, but in scope and sophistication it is an exceptional work in the marketplace, showing Franz Leo Ruben as an exceptional portraitist who could move away from the painterly snapshots to precise commissions.