Painter in Her Majesty's Service

Maler im Auftrag Ihrer Majestät

Here comes the blog many of my American friends have been waiting for. On March 20, the Franz Xaver Winterhalter exhibition at Freiburg's Augustinermuseum closed its doors. It was the first Winterhalter retrospective in Germany. So it is unsurprising that a new record of 62,000 people from across Germany visited the special exhibition, admiring the wall-filling paintings.

The artworks are now on their way to Houston, Texas, and will be displayed at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) from April 17 through August 14, 2016. I understand that a group from Madison will fly to Houston, especially to see the paintings. What are they going to see?

Here is a report about my visit to the Freiburg exhibition. For Winterhalter's life, you may like to consult Wikipedia.

As a painter, Winterhalter had his breakthrough at the Salon in Paris in 1836, presenting an Italian genre scene, Il Dolce Farniente.

Il Dolce Farniente (1836) (©Wikipedia)

While many admired his "genius," some criticized his style as manneristic. He could not care less, for he was soon appointed court painter to the French King Louis-Philippe. In 1839, Winterhalter finished the portrait of the Citizen King; three years later, that of Queen Maria-Amalia.

Louis-Philippe I, King of the French (1839) (©Rlbberlin/Wikipedia)

Maria-Amalia of the Two Sicilies, Queen of the French (1842) (©Wikipedia)

Winterhalter became an international celebrity as a portrait painter and ... rich. Among his many regal sitters was also Queen Victoria. Winterhalter first visited England in 1842 and became a court painter in Her Majesty's Service. From 1842 to 1871, he produced more than 100 paintings at and for the English court.

In 1851 Queen Victoria wrote in her diary: Took another painting lesson with Winterhalter after luncheon. He is so good-natured & straightforward.

Winterhalter, now with royal patronage, was internationally celebrated. In Napoleon III's Second Empire, Winterhalter became the chief portraitist of the imperial family and court of France in 1854. The beautiful French Empress Eugénie was his favorite sitter, and some experts regard Empress Eugénie Surrounded by Her Ladies in Waiting (1855) as Winterhalter's masterpiece.

Empress Eugénie Surrounded by Her Ladies in Waiting (1855) (©Sstjean/Wikipedia)

In the same year, he also finished Napoleon's portrait and, five years later, that of Empress Eugénie.

Portrait of Napoleon III (1855) (©Wikipedia)

Portrait of Empress Eugénie (1860) (©Rama/Wikipedia)

One of Winterhalter's French critics wrote: Le seul peintre en France qui comprenne que l'artiste doit reproduire non seulement la nature, mais la beauté (He is the only painter in France who understands that an artist not only must reproduce nature but beauty). While his male portraits sometimes seem stiff (is it the uniform?), his female portraits are more than just color photos. His ladies' faces are radiant, accentuated by those fabulous gowns the women are wearing, following the motto: Die Frau ist das Aushängeschild des Mannes (A wife is a husband's flagship). Winterhalter became a victim of his own success. It meant that he worked almost exclusively as a portrait painter for the rest of his life.

And Winterhalter became better with time. Here is a most frivolous portrait of Barbara (Barbe) Dmitrievna Mergassov Rimsky-Korsakova, a wealthy Russian lady who lived in Paris most of the time. Somehow, Winterhalter replicated her way of living, as she said about herself: I am free and independent. My mistakes are my mistakes. My success is my success. I believe in myself; I do everything alone and don't make a tragedy of it.

Barbe Dmitrievna Mergassov, Madame Rimsky-Korsakov (1864)
(©Wikipedia)

However, Winterhalter's best-known and most beloved portrait is of Sisi, the favorite empress of all German-speaking people.

Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Courtly Gala Dress
with Diamond Stars (1865) (©Wikipedia)

After Winterhalter's death, his painting fell out of favor and was considered romantic, glossy, and superficial. This loss of appreciation was aggravated by the fact that he had neither created a school nor had he pupils. In addition, he fell somewhat into disgrace in Germany as the "French painter" following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. Hopefully, the Freiburg/Houston exhibitions will help rescue Winterhalter from oblivion.

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