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69 - Anton Graff – Portrait of Caroline von Westrell as a Muse Oi…
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Estimate €4,000 - €8,000
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Description
Anton Graff – Portrait of Caroline von Westrell as a Muse Oil on canvas mounted on panel, 75 x 58 cm The painting depicts Caroline von Westrell in the guise of a Muse, crowned with a laurel wreath and accompanied by a flute, in accordance with a refined form of allegorical portraiture in which the model’s individual identity is combined with a cultured reference to the world of poetry and music.The young woman is depicted in half-length, emerging from a dark, uniform background that draws the viewer’s attention to her face and hands. The rendering of the complexion, delicately modulated in rosy tones, the precision of the gaze and the softness of the chiaroscuro effects bear witness to Anton Graff’s extraordinary ability to combine physical accuracy with psychological insight. Particularly successful is the chromatic harmony between the deep green of the dress, the golden ochre of the drapery and the warm tones of the face.One of the leading portraitists in the German-speaking world during the second half of the eighteenth century, Graff developed a style of painting based on compositional restraint, direct observation of the sitter and penetrating psychological characterisation, gradually moving away from the conventional solemnity of court portraiture. Active chiefly in Dresden, where he served as court painter and professor at the Academy, he portrayed some of the most significant figures of German Enlightenment culture, making a decisive contribution to the definition of the bourgeois and intellectual portrait between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Set in a contemporary frame.
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About the sale Paintings and Drawings from the 15th to the 19th century
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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