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Lot description
(Cavtat 1855–1922 Prague) A View of the Ringstrasse and the Imperial Palace in Vienna, signed, dated Vlaho Bukovac Vienna 1904, oil on canvas, 60.5 x 115.5 cm, framed (frame damaged) Provenance: Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 14 February 1961, lot 3; Private Collection, Vienna; Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 25 November 2004, lot 133; European Private Collection. A certificate issued by Petra Vugrinec Ph.D. Zagreb, 28 January 2025, is available upon request. We are grateful to Petra Vugrinec Ph.D. for the scholarly advice. The present lot shows a view of the Vienna Hofburg seen from the Parliament. In the foreground, one of the four so-called Rossbändiger by the sculptor Josef Lax (1851-1909) can be seen prominently on a high pedestal at the beginning of the two arms of the ramp. Behind it is the hustle and bustle, with the typical red Viennese trams, carriages, the occasional cyclist and numerous walkers. Behind the trees of the Volksgarten, coloured brown and orange in the autumn leaves, you can see the imposing Hofburg Palace. On closer inspection, you are mesmerised by the lively scene of Vienna at the turn of the century: The horses of a carriage with two uniformed men transporting two high-ranking dignitaries - perhaps even Emperor Franz Joseph I, whom Vlaho Bukovac portrayed in the Hofburg in January 1896 - glide across the street at a trot on the left of the picture. Behind them are workers who are probably busy paving the Ringstrasse. To the right are three cyclists. We see children playing, a dog walker, a pram, a lady waiting. It is the splendour of the Ring in all its glory combined in one picture. All this is rather atypical for Vlaho Bukovac, an artist whose oeuvre is dominated by portraits, allegorical subjects, nudes and the occasional landscape. After an international career in Paris and a stay of several years in Zagreb, where Vlaho Bukovac became a leading representative of the modern Croatian art movement, he left Zagreb and moved to his hometown of Cavtat. However, after four years, in 1902, he moved to Vienna with his family. He had a studio at Stubenring 20 and a flat at Landstrasse 12. In February 1903, he opened a large exhibition in Eugen Artin's art salon. The reports on this exhibition were full of praise for the Croatian artist. The present lot, which is dated 1904, was also created at this time. It was commissioned by Hugo von Berks (1841-1906) and his wife Marie Edle von Berks, née Čop (1859-1910). Marie von Berks was a writer and wrote a contribution to the catalogue of Bukovac's solo exhibition in Vienna as well as an article in a local newspaper. The present lot is not the only painting that Vlaho Bukovac produced on behalf of the Berks family: in 1904 he painted portraits of the couple and their son (see: Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 25 May 2000). A photograph shows the painting being created in Bukovac's studio in Vienna. Bukovac sits in front of the easel in his characteristic pose, with palette and brush in hand. Next to him, Hugo von Berks leans in a chair and watches the artist at work. The unusual view of the Hofburg from Parliament was probably realised at the wish of the commissioner, as Hugo von Berks was a member of the House of Representatives in the Imperial Council when the painting was created.