Austrian Artist: Rudolph Sternad

Early Twentieth Century Viennese Lady,
Believed to Be a Member of the Deutsch Family*,
Seated on a Park Bench and Depicted in a Landscape
Setting with an Image of the Pyramids of Giza Appearing Behind

Austrian
circa 1922-1925
by Rudolph Sternad (1880-1944)
(unsigned)

3 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (sight); full frame measures 4 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches

watercolor on ivory; housed under glass in an gilt brass frame

*Though unsigned and undated (though, unmistakably the work of Rudolph Sternad), this miniature portrait was one of two companion portraits sold at auction in 2015 by the Palais Dorotheum in Vienna. (We were, unfortunately, only able to acquire this single portrait.) They were said to have come from the same estate, that of a Viennese family by the name Deutsch. The subject of the companion portrait, signed and dated 1922, was purported to be Grete Deutsch, wife of a Viennese manufacturer and owner of a metal factory at Schwarzenbergplatz Nr.5 in Vienna's 3rd district. The subjects of the two companion portraits look very similar -- so much so that one might assume they were the same person were it not for the fact that one has blue eyes and the other has brown eyes. (Might they have been sisters?)

About the Portrait: It's a shame this portrait isn't signed, as it is amongst Sternad's finest works in miniature. The subject's countenance and complexion are depicted flawlessly (note the twinkle in her eyes and the faint light reflected on her nose and lips); and Sternad has depicted every detail of her dress and jewelry with precision. Of particular interest is the appearance of palm trees and the Pyramids of Giza visible in the distance behind the subject's right shoulder, despite her being seated in what one imagines is a Viennese park. The inclusion of these elements was certainly meant to convey something of meaning to the subject. Might she have traveled to Egypt, or was she perhaps simply an avid student of Egyptian history? Egyptology and all things Egypt were of great interest to Europeans in the early twentieth century, made all the more compelling with Howard Carter's 1922 discovery of the intact tomb of Tutankhamen (ca. 1341 BC - ca. 1323 BC) in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. It is perhaps not a coincidence that Carter's discovery was contemporaneous to when this miniature portrait was painted: ca. 1922-1925. The moody looking clouds behind the subject also lend well to the inclusion of the otherwise out of place pyramids, creating the appearance of an ethereal or dream like state of contemplation on the part of the subject.

About the Artist: Rudolph Sternad (also known as Rudolf Sternad) was born on September 2, 1880, in what is today the city of Liberec, in the Czech Republic, but was at the time of his birth known as Reichenberg, Bohemia, part of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a young man, he was trained as a lithographer at the Staatsgewerbeschule (State Trade School), in Reichenberg, after which he worked in the lithographic institutes of Varnsdordf (northern Czech Republic, close to the border of Germany) and Zittau (Saxony, Germany). From 1903 to 1906, he studied art under Prof. August Eduard Wentzel (1895-1971), at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts), located in Gablonz (now Jablonec, Czech Republic). From 1910 to 1914, he served as director of a studio for poster art in Hamburg, Germany, while also developing his skills as a portrait painter in oils on canvas. Sternad later shared with an American journalist, in 1930, that he painted a portrait of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, shortly before his assassination in Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914, precipitating what would become World War I.* Sternad himself promptly joined in the war effort, serving in the German army of Kaiser Wilhelm II. After the war, Sternad settled in Vienna, Austria where, from 1918, he worked exclusively as a portrait painter, by then having fully embraced the art of painting miniature portraits in watercolor on ivory. There, along with the likes of Wilhemine Stadler (1898-1936) and Rudolf Ipold (1873-1936), he established himself as a master of Viennese miniature portrait painting, painting portraits of many noteworthy and wealthy individuals. In 1924, he became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus, a society of distinguished Viennese painters, sculptors and architects, where he exhibited many miniature portraits over several years. In 1929, he traveled to the United States where, through 1931, he visited amongst other destinations, New York City and high society New York seaside towns, Hartford (Connecticut), Detroit (Michigan) and Palm Beach (Florida), painting portraits of many wealthy Americans. Upon his return from America, Sternad is known to have exhibited numerous portraits in Vienna and Germany, including many American works which he exhibited at the Dom-Galerie (the gallery of the Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom), in Cologne, Germany, in 1933. His work appears to have been stymied by the rising currents of war in Europe that ultimately erupted into World War II; but, as evidenced by works that have come to auction in recent years, it is known that he continued to paint, albeit on a limited basis, through 1944. Sternad met his end on January 21, 1945, at the age of 64, when he was killed during an allied bombing raid of Vienna. He was buried at the Friedhof Grinzing (Grinzing Cemetery), in outer Vienna, near the Vienna Woods. His grave was later moved, however, in 1985, to the Wiener Zentralfriedhof (Vienna Central Cemetery), where his remains rest in an honorary location, along with other important cultural figures of Vienna. During his painting career, Sternad is estimated to have painted over 850 miniature portraits, many of them being of members of the Austrian and Spanish aristocracy, the Viennese bourgeoisie and the Swiss nobility. Many of his works remain in the hands of private families as well as several important collections. Listed by Benezit, Blättel (pages 858, 859).

[*Noted Portrait Artist is Here (newspaper article), The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach, Florida, February 25, 1930 edition, Vol. XXII, No. 15, pg.]