(Schrobenhausen 1836–1904 Munich)
Children of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, on the reverse old label “Eigentum von Prinzessin Hildegard von Bayern”, oil on panel, 96 x 67.5 cm, framed, cradled (Rei)

Provenance:
German private collection.

Compare:
Sonja Mehl, Franz von Lenbach, published by Prestel, Munich 1980, p. 188, cat. ill. 384f;
Franz von Lenbach, 1836–1904, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Munich 14. 12. 1986–3. 5. 1987, p. 297, no. 133.

We are grateful to Dr. Sonja von Baronow for her assistance in cataloguing this work. Various studies predate the completed painting portraying the family of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria. The present composition shows the outline of the Crown Prince’s wife, Maria Theresia (1849-1919), born Archduchess of Austria, who is bending over to her third eldest daughter, Princess Hildegard of Bavaria, (1881-1948) seated on the chair. In front of them stands the couple’s youngest son, Prince Wolfgang of Bavaria (1879-1885). Lenbach, who also used photographs as models when producing family portraits, wrote in a letter to Franziska von Wertheimstein: “…amongst others had to draw the family of Prince Ludwig (a piece with 10 people) which was an awful lot of work…”
The artist received some of his training at the Munich Academy. His style of painting, modulating mood by using colour, was very similar to the new approach being propagated by Karl Theodor von Piloty. The painter enjoyed great success amongst the art-loving aristocracy and the upper classes, which ensured his financial security. (Compare: Sonja Mehl, Franz von Lenbach, published by Prestel, Munich 1980, p. 188f.)