Rudolph Ernst

Rudolph Ernst (Austrian, 1854-1932) An Arab Elder in a Palace signed 'R Ernst' (lower right) oil on panel 24 x 19 in. (60.9 x 48.2 cm.) VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium. During the early years of his career, Rudolf Ernst focused his work upon portraits and genre subjects. It was only his visits to Morocco and Constantinople in 1886 that encouraged him to expand upon his subject matter, drawing from wider sources of inspiration. This expansion proved beneficial to his success as a painter, as it was with his Orientalist works that he achieved the greatest critical acclaim, catapulting him alongside Austria's foremost Orientalist painter, Ludwig Deutsch. With the object, fabrics and artefacts that he gathered on his travels he 'dressed' his compositions. Ernst's exceptional mastery lies in his ability to combine layers of genuine artefacts in order to create outstanding fantasy. Details such as the 19th century Egyptian bronze oil lamp depicted here, the beautiful tiles in the background and the flowing robe of the Elder call to mind a genuine scene from the Orient. In the present work, Ernst faithfully adheres to the mood and culture that he would have experienced during his travels. Having taken his camera on these trips he would have been able to document not only the essence of these locations, but the intricate details that are so important in order to truly represent a convincing and powerful image as the present work. The Elder carefully pours the oil in the lamp. With almost photographic precision, Ernst paints the robe, the silken sash and turban.

Rudolf Ernst (Vienna 1854–1932) The Favourite, signed R. Ernst, oil on panel, 65 x 55 cm, framed, (Rei) Rudolf Ernst entered the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna when only 15 years old. After training in Anselm Feuerbach’’’’ s history painting class, Ernst moved to France. On study trips to Spain, Morocco and Constantinople he used the impressions he had gained to paint oriental scenes, depicting both everyday life in the Near East and interior views of mosques. The artist drew on the sketches he had made on location, photographs and memories, a common practice of the period. Provenance: Viennese private property.

276. Rudolf Ernst Austria 1854-1932 Entering the palace. Signed R. Ernst. Panel 46 x 38 cm. Bukowski, Stockholm, auction no 348, "Springauction", 2-3 April 1952, lot no 116. There called "Far och dotter" (father and daughter). Rudolf Ernst is today one of the most celebrated and sought-after Orientalist artists of the 19th Century. Born in Vienna in 1854 and son of the architect Leopold Ernst, the young Rudolf received his early artistic training at the Vienna Academy. During his last year of schooling, he won a scholarship which allowed him to travel first through Italy, then Morocco, Spain and Tunis before settling in Paris and taking French citizenship. In Paris he made contact amongst other Orientalists, and made himself known to artist circles. He continued to travel throughout the 1890s, visiting Turkey and Egypt. While on his travels, the artist bought artifacts, pottery, kaftans and textiles, which he brought back to France and used over and over again to enhance the authenticity of his paintings. Heavily influenced by the academic style of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Rudolf Ernst concentrated on exactitude in detail and intensity of color. Rudolf strived for photographic exactitude and academic precision while enhancing the composition with his signature authenticity in vibrant and elegant color combinations. Ernst belongs to the second generation of Orientalist painters, such as Gerome, Bauernfeind, Deutsch and Ernst were more interested in depicting scenes from the daily life of the East such as Bedouins gathering in sun bathed deserts, Bashi-Bazouks resting, Nubians guarding palaces or harem women engaged in leisurely activities. The technique of setting lavishly dressed figures against intricate backdrops was a favorite of Ernst's, one which permitted him to show off his skill at rendering different exotic textures and surfaces, from the richness of clothing to the reflective properties of tiles. His imagination was fired by the glorious mosque interiors, the picturesque street scenes and above all the sophisticated pastimes of citizens in their quarters, and his experiences would forever shape his future painting career. The present work perfectly encapsulates the combination of detail and imagined setting. Such themes were often to be found in Ernst’’’’s oeuvre and mark him as one of the true masters of the genre. His realistic style, complete with the various props, carpets, ewers, tiles, screens that the artist brought back from his trips to North Africa and Turkey, lend the scene its prodigious sense of veracity. The viewer is, in fact, confronted to a theater prop which the absolute technical mastery of the artist transforms into an evocative image of an 'Orient', most importantly of a notoriously forbidden space that extremely few people would have had access to, and which fascinated Western viewers

Rudolph Ernst (Austrian, 1854-1932) Penelope signed 'R.Ernst.' (lower right) oil on panel 28 3/8 x 36¼ in. (72 x 92 cm.) In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope is the loyal and faithful wife of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who rejected the attentions of her many admirers whilst her husband was absent for 10 years fighting the Trojan Wars. Her name has traditionally symbolised marital faithfulness, and she is recognisable in Greek and Roman vase painting, often striking a reflective pose as seen in the present work.

Rudolf Ernst (Vienna 1854–1932) Maria, John and the Child Jesus, signed and dated Rome 1875 R. Ernst, oil on canvas, 320 x 160 cm, oval upper edge, framed, damaged, abbrasion, (Rei) Catalogued in: Heinrich Fuchs, Die österreichischen Maler des 19. Jahrhunderts, Vienna 1972, Vol. 1, p. 84. “From 1874 to 1875 he was in Italy where in Rome he painted an altarpiece for a church in Vienna’’’’s Favoriten district.”