Bidspirit auction | Josef von Führich: Herzog Borziwoy

Josef von Führich: Herzog Borziwoy hilft dem Einsiedler Iwan im Walde - Josef von Führich Herzog Borziwoy hilft dem Einsiedler Iwan im Walde 1816/18 Öl auf Leinwand; gerahmt 160,5 x 101 cm Bezeichnet und signiert rechts unten: Erfunden und gemalt vom Joseph Führich in Kratzau. Rückseitig Etikett: 2220 (Linz-Nr.) Sammlung Thun, Lieblitz/Böhmen (direkt vom Künstler erworben); bis 1937 Sammlung Gräfin Christiane Thun (1854-1937), Lieblitz/Tschechoslowakei; 1941 Ankauf von Graf Thun (bought from Graf Thun in 1941 for 200.000 Kc Czech), wohl für den ”Sonderauftrag Linz”; 1942 Einlieferung durch Kunsthandel Mayer-Stoeber, München, ”Sonderauftrag Linz” (Projekt ”Führermuseum”, Linz-Nr. 2220); 1945 Central Collecting Point der Alliierten, München (registriert 15.10.1945, Mü-Nr. 9198); 18.10.1947 Claim 353; 11.6.1948 Restitution ČSSR; Privatbesitz, Österreich (Ende der 1970er Jahre in Duisburg erstanden); seit 2019 Privatbesitz, Kärnten Prof. Rudolf Müller, Joseph von Führich. Das Vaterhaus, in: Mittheilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Deutschen in Böhmen, 15. Jahrgang, 4. Heft 1876/77, S. 262-263; Heinrich von Wörndle, Josef Führich's Werke. Nebst dokumentarischen Beiträgen und Bibliographie, Wien 1914, S. 11, Nr. 57 Josef von Führich Duke Borziwoy helps Hermit Iwan in the Forest 1816/18 oil on canvas; framed 160,5 x 101 cm Inscribed and signed on the lower right: Erfunden and gemalt vom Joseph Führich in Kratzau. Label on the reverse: 2220 (Linz-no.) collection Thun, Lieblitz/Bohemia (acquired directly from the artist); to 1937 collection Gräfin Christiane Thun (1854-1937), Lieblitz/Czechoslovakia; 1941 Ankauf von Graf Thun (bought from Graf Thun in 1941 for 200.000 Kc Czech), probably for the ”Sonderauftrag Linz”; 1942 consignment by art trade Mayer-Stoeber, Munich, ”Sonderauftrag Linz” (Projekt ”Führermuseum”, Linz-no. 2220); 1945 Central Collecting Point the Alliierten, Munich (registered 15.10.1945, Mü-no. 9198); 18.10.1947 Claim 353; 11.6.1948 Restitution ČSSR; private property, Austria (acquired in the late 1970s in Duisburg); since 2019 private property, Carinthia Prof. Rudolf Müller, Joseph von Führich. Das Vaterhaus, in: Mittheilungen des Vereins für Geschichte the Deutschen in Böhmen, 15. Jahrgang, 4. Heft 1876/77, p. 262-263; Heinrich von Wörndle, Josef Führich's Werke. Nebst dokumentarischen Beiträgen und Bibliographie, Vienna 1914, p. 11, no. 57 Joseph Führich, born in Northern Bohemia, came from an artistic family. He received his first lessons in drawing and painting from his father, Wenzel. Heinrich von Wörndle cites from Führich’s diary that the young artist exhibited two paintings for the first time at an art exhibition in Prague in 1819 (Wörndle, p. 175). The two works in question were the present painting and its counterpart ”Der Tod Ottos von Wittelsbach anno 1209” (The Death of Otto of Wittelsbach in the Year 1209), which is now held in the collection of the Belvedere in Vienna (inv. no. 8297). The paintings were highly praised at the exhibition and were purchased on the spot by Count Thun. As a result, Führich received a scholarship to attend the Academy in Prague, made possible through the support of Count Christian Christoph Clam-Gallas, the owner of the Kratzau estate. Professor Rudolf Müller wrote in 1876/77 in the journal Communications of the Society for the History of the Germans in Bohemia that Führich had been invited by the Academy’s director, Joseph Bergler, to contribute a painting to the 1817 exhibition. ”The paintings, carefully executed for Prague, were completed and sent there before Christmas; father and son followed in early January 1817…” (Müller, p. 263). Thus, early literature on Führich presents two differing dates for the Prague exhibition. It is possible that the two paintings were already completed in 1816, but in any case they were created before his studies at the Academy in Prague. Without doubt, they are exceptionally high-quality early works by Führich, whose artistic talent attracted significant attention even at a young age.