(Salzburg 1840–1884 Vienna)
Portrait of a Lady with a Pearl Necklace, verso wax seal H. L. Neumann, oil on panel, 76 x 61.3 cm, framed

Provenance:
Hofkunsthandlung H. L. Neumann, Munich;
Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, 7 May 1947, lot 1095;
Private Collection, Switzerland;
Sale, Schuler Auktionen, Zurich, 28 March 2008, lot 4345;
Private Collection, England;
Sale, Christie’s, London, 2 November 2016, lot 127;
Private Collection, Germany.

Catalogued and illustrated in:
Gerbert Frodl, Hans Makart. Monographie und Werkverzeichnis, Salzburg 1974, p. 444, no. 663;
Gerbert Frodl, Hans Makart. Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Vienna 2013, p. 162, no. 252.

We are grateful to Dr. Gerbert Frodl for his scholarly advice.

Makart was during his lifetime the favourite portrait painter among the bourgeoisie and aristocracy and his studio was a key focal point of Viennese society. According to Gerbert Frodl, the above lot was painted around 1873/74, at the height of Makart’s career and at a time in which portraiture was the artist’s main source of income. The sitter (previously speculated to be Hanna von Klinkosch, one of Makart’s favourite models) is an unknown lady dressed in historical costume. The artist paid exquisite attention to detail and displayed a virtuoso use of contrast, texture and colour. Thus, the mysterious ladies’ delicate pale skin is highlighted along with the lace of her dress and sumptuous pearl necklace in a symphony of whites.