(Nuremberg 1810–1870 Vienna)
A Thistle Still Life with Butterflies and a Poppy, monogrammed (scratched) G. S., oil on canvas, 78.5 x 63 cm, framed

The subject of this large thistle still life goes back to the Viennese flower painter Franz Xaver Gruber (Vienna 1801-1862), who found success at the Paris World Exhibition of 1855 with a large thistle still life with poppies and butterflies. This unusual pictorial theme earned him the name ‘Distelgruber’.
Georg Seitz seems to have been inspired by Gruber's famous thistle in the present lot. Whereas the latter had exaggerated his thistle by depicting it as towering and larger than life against a wide mountain backdrop, Seitz chooses a more intimate depiction and a near-natural setting. In the present lot the thistle stands somewhat elevated, and a distant, hilly landscape can be glimpsed in the background. In the foreground, a smaller thistle slides into the frame, accompanied by corn poppies. A variety of butterflies, bumblebees and beetles populate the leaves and flowers.
Seitz shares Gruber's fascination with the wild, unruly appearance of thistles, yet his thistle remains located in its natural environment and represents an appeal to recognise the beauty of nature even in the small and supposedly inconspicuous.