Archduke Charles as Colonel of the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger 1916

Half portrait standing, his body slightly turned to the left, his head turned to the right, looking into the distance. The emperor in field gray uniform with dagger and two orders (including the Habsburg House Order of the Golden Fleece). Background: wall and a gathered curtain.

JQAW# P_1916_260
Oil on canvas, dimensions unknown.
Signature: none recognizable (trimmed?)
Private collection House of Habsburg.
Illustration: b/w picture, catalog Kaiserjägeraustellung 1917 Innsbruck.

Karl Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary. 18. 8. 1887 (Persenbeug) to 1.4.1922 (Madeira, Portugal). For biography see entry in OeBL. See also the catalogue entry "Emperor Charles in the Field" 1916 (cross-references).

The present portrait of Archduke Charles (Karl) was commissioned by the Archduke (from November 21, 1916 Emperor) in August 1916 and was executed most likely by Adams in his studio in Vienna in late fall of 1916. It was, like the monumental painting "Kaiserjägerhuldigung" intended for the Kaiserjäger Berg Isel Museum in Innsbruck . The portrait is basically identical to the other Adams portraits of Emperor Karl I, especially "Emperor Charles in the Field" and also to his representation in the Kaiserjägerhuldigung (see image comparison in the entry Emperor Charles in the Field 1916).

The picture has to date not been documented in the Adams literature nor in any archival source and is documented only by the (rare) catalog of the travelling exhibition “The Kaiserjäger (troops) at the world war”. The digitzied B/W reproduction from the catalogue is shown here. The original photo was probably cropped, because no signature is recognizable.
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Cross-references

Exhibited

1917 Innsbruck Kaiserjäger Exhibition.

Literature

Provenance

1917 Private collection, most likely House of Habsburg, Austria.
1949?-1993 Archduchess Elisabeth (von und zu Liechtenstein), Waldstein Castle.
House of Habsburg, current location unknown.