Wilhelm Leibl

Wilhelm Leibl (1844 Cologne - Würzburg 1900) - Portrait of a Munich gentleman. Oil on wood. (Circa 1867). 59 x 45.4 cm. Inscribed left: W. Leibl, probably in an o. frame. With an expertise by Dr. Marianne von Manstein, Munich, dated 5.4.2024. Waldmann 252. "In this Leibl, the world's greatest portrait painter of recent times, the greatest since Rembrandt," wrote Julius Meier-Graefe in his "Entwicklungsgeschichte der modernen Kunst" (1904/1924). Even if Meier-Graefe dares to gallop through the centuries, he nevertheless points out important things. For Leibl, as for the great Dutchman, the portrait was the central pictorial task in his work and yet one would not call him a "portraitist". Portraits were not created as mass-produced social goods, but each individual portrait was created in extended sittings and in direct observation of the model. The highest technical standards met emotional depth without psychologizing. For Leibl, the artists of the 17th century were far more exemplary in this respect than what was taught at the Academy in his time, which also explains the stylistic proximity to Rembrandt's art. An elderly gentleman sits calmly opposite us here. His head is turned to the left in three-quarter profile, but from the corner of his eye he is looking firmly at the viewer. As is so often the case with Leibl, nothing in the composition distracts from the depiction of the man. The composition is so tightly cropped that the man can only be seen as a bust. Even the hands, which Leibl liked to include in the picture and which occasionally provide a clue to the social environment of the sitter by means of a personal object held in his hand, are not visible in this case. The name of the man depicted has not survived. The viewer's attention is therefore focused entirely on the painting. The background is in shades of brown, revealing nothing of the surrounding space and also suggesting little depth. The black jacket barely stands out from the background and the black tie in the lapel neckline can only be guessed at. Only the collar tips of the white shirt are clearly outlined and give the face an accentuated frame towards the bottom. The white corresponds with the white-grey hair on the beard and temples, which, together with the half bald head, reveal the sitter's advanced age, as do the slightly wrinkled bags under the eyes and slightly drooping eyelids. At the same time, however, the gaze is so concentrated and the nuanced incarnation so full of life that it is clear how much the subject is in the midst of life. In particular, the brightly lit, high forehead, which is barely criss-crossed by wrinkles and certainly not by worry lines, indicates an alert, self-assured spirit. His gaze is scrutinizing, but the rest of his facial expression does not reveal the verdict of this critical observer. And yet there is a hint of melancholy in his features, coupled with benevolent sympathy. Stylistically, the portrait can be dated to around 1867, when various artists began to gather around Leibl, who would soon form the so-called Leibl circle with its own concept of realism. The eyes are modeled with fine brushstrokes and individual beard and head hairs are applied, while the majority of the incarnation, hair and clothing are applied with coarser brushstrokes. Fully committed to the idea of the "pure painting" of the Leibl circle, the artistic "how" takes precedence over the narrative "what" of the pictorial object, which, whether with fine or coarse brushstrokes, is not formed from the line but entirely from the paint. Provenance: Emil Waldmann gave "Professor Edinger, Frankfurt a.M." as his provenance in 1914 and "Frau Professor Edinger, Frankfurt a.M." in 1930. This probably refers to the renowned neurologist and founder of the Neurological Institute at Frankfurt University Ludwig Edinger (1855-1918) and his wife Anna (1863-1929). Anna came from the wealthy, art-loving Frankfurt banking family Goldschmidt and was able to enable her husband to conduct independent research and become the father of neurology in Germany. She herself was committed to charitable causes and was active beyond the borders of Frankfurt as a women's rights activist. Dr. Marianne von Manstein Literature: Emil Waldmann, Wilhelm Leibl: A portrayal of his art. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Berlin 1914, addendum, cat. no. 252, ill. 222 (dated ca. 1890); Emil Waldmann, Wilhelm Leibl: A representation of his art. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Gemälde, Berlin 1930, cat. no. 72 (dated ca. 1867). Provenance: Professor Edinger, Frankfurt a.M.; Mrs. Professor Edinger, Frankfurt a.M; Private property, South Germany