The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Countess Széchenyi

Countess Széchenyi

1828
(Austrian, 1793–1865)
Framed: 121.5 x 102 x 10.5 cm (47 13/16 x 40 3/16 x 4 1/8 in.); Unframed: 97.8 x 78.5 cm (38 1/2 x 30 7/8 in.)

Description

This portrait typifies painting in Vienna between 1815 and 1865, an era known as the Biedermeier period, during which the Habsburg government promoted positive artistic depictions of Viennese life and culture. The mountains in the background express both the artist's romantic fascination with nature and patriotic devotion to his Austrian homeland. The sitter, Crescentia Seilern, was a prestigious member of the aristocracy who married Hungarian reformist patriot István Széchenyi.
  • Before 1906
    Possibly Dr. Izidor Deutsch [d. 1906], Budapest
    Probably until 1925
    Maximilian Mauthner, Schloss Feistritz, Wechsel, Austria
    1925
    (Sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, June 15, 1925, lot 69)
    Before 1940
    Possibly Dr. Paul Eger [1881-1947], Basel
    1940
    (Sale, Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, Nov. 7-9, 1940, lot 1250, sold to Galerie Nathan)
    1940-
    (Galerie Nathan, Zürich)
    By 1970
    (Erich von Kreibig, Munich)
    1972
    (Sale, Neumeister, Munich, Sept. 20-22, 1972, lot 1689
    From 1972?
    (Galerie Grünwald, Munich)
    By 1987?
    Private collection, Munich
    1988
    (David Carritt, Ltd./Artemis Group, London, and Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1988-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • David Carrit, Ltd., invoice, July 14, 1988, in CMA curatorial file
    Roman Herzig, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, March 19, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.
    David Carritt, Ltd., painting information sheet, in CMA curatorial file.
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    Neumeister, letter to Hannelore Osborne, March 3, 1997, in CMA curatorial file.
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    Erich von Kreibig, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, Oct. 11, 1970, in CMA curatorial file.
    Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, fax to Peter Nathan, Jan. 26, 1993, in CMA curatorial file.
    Peter Nathan, letter to Ann Tzeutschler Lurie, Feb. 2, 1993, in CMA curatorial file.

    Johannes Nathan, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 24, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.
    Galerie Fischer. Nachlass des Herrn R., Genf ; aus Glarner und anderem Privatbesitz...italienische Meister des 14. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert, spanisiche, französische, deutsche, englische und holländische Schule, schweizer Meister. Lucerne: Galerie Fischer, Nov. 7-9, 1940.
    Valérie Matzner, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, April 9, 2015, in CMA curatorial file.
    Johannes Nathan, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Feb. 25, 2015, in CMA curatorial file
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    Dorotheum (Wien). Gemälde des 19. Jahrhunderts, Gemälde alter Meister, Aquarelle, Miniaturen, Antiquitäten, Bronzen, Möbel, Keramik, Graphik. June 15-16, 1925.
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    Katja Fischer, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Nov. 24, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    null
    Feuchtmüller, Rupert. Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller 1793-1865: Leben, Schriften, Werke. Wien: C. Brandstätter, 1996.
    David Carritt, Ltd., painting information sheet, in CMA curatorial file.
    Les Vince, email to Victoria Sears Goldman and Louis Adrean, Sept. 4, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. “Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Portrait of Crescentia, Countess Zichy (later Countess Széchenyi) with a Parrot and a Camellia in a Mountainous Landscape.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 1 (1994): 3-17. Reproduced: cover, details p. 9-11; Mentioned: p. 3-17 www.jstor.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 637-638, Vol. II, no. 223
    Mackie, Louise W. Symbols of Power: Luxury Textiles from Islamic Lands, 7th-21st Century. Cleveland; New Haven: Cleveland Museum of Art; Yale University Press, 2015. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 441, fig. 10.31
  • Object in Focus: Countess Széchenyi and Her Prestigious Kashmir Shawl. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 25, 2003-January 4, 2004).
    The Year in Review for 1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 1-May 14, 1989).
    Vienna, Galerie St. Lucas. Winterausstellung (1987-88), no. 25, Porträt einer Gräfin Szechenyi (repr.).
  • {{cite web|title=Countess Széchenyi|url=false|author=Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller|year=1828|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.57