Amusement at the court
Johann Georg Platzer
(St. Paul in Eppan 1704-1761 St. Michael in Eppan)
Vienna, ca. 1738
oil / copper
57 x 80 cm (22,4 x 31,5 inch)
signed ‚J. G. Platzer’
This society piece with an integrated self-portrait is a major work by Johann Georg Platzer, the unrivaldc representative of the Austrian Baroque. His artistry is evident in his miniature-like detail accuracy and the nuances of bright colors with which he creates an enamel-like surface using a copper ground.
The painting was in the Imperial Russian collections until its auction in 1928. Other paintings by Platzer are still in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg today.
Provenance:
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (1727-1797), Shuvalov Palace St. Peterburg (according to a inscription on the reverse);
Imperial Russian collection of Empress Elizabeth of Russia;
Imperial Russian collection of Empress Catherine II. the Great;
Collection of the Russian Imperial family at Pawlowsk Palace,
Sale of paintings from the Russian Imperial collections from the Hermitage,
Michailoff Palace and Gatchina Palace;
Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 6.-7. November 1928, Lot 412;
Auction 606, Dorotheum Vienna, 3.-6. December 1974, Lot 106;
Private collection, Vienna
The painting was in the Imperial Russian collections until its auction in 1928. Other paintings by Platzer are still in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg today.
Provenance:
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (1727-1797), Shuvalov Palace St. Peterburg (according to a inscription on the reverse);
Imperial Russian collection of Empress Elizabeth of Russia;
Imperial Russian collection of Empress Catherine II. the Great;
Collection of the Russian Imperial family at Pawlowsk Palace,
Sale of paintings from the Russian Imperial collections from the Hermitage,
Michailoff Palace and Gatchina Palace;
Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 6.-7. November 1928, Lot 412;
Auction 606, Dorotheum Vienna, 3.-6. December 1974, Lot 106;
Private collection, Vienna