Richard Klemens Prince Metternich-Winneburg 1903
Half portrait in side view, sitting in high armchair, head turned slightly to his right, looking at the viewer; the sitter in black suit, gray-haired, with pronounced whiskers.
JQAW# P_1903_070
Oil on canvas 71 x 58 cm
no signature recognizable
Stiftergalerie Künstlerhaus Vienna.
Richard Klemens Prince Metternich Winneburg (7.1. 1821 Vienna - 1.3. 1895) son of the State Chancellor Klemens Prince Metternich, uncle and husband of the philanthropist Pauline Princess Metternich, diplomat, among other things 1859-1871 Austrian ambassador in Paris. After his retirement from the civil service, he became a private citizen and a patron of the arts, including the Künstlerhaus, which is why he was honored with a benefactor portrait.
The only remaining portrait in the Künstlerhaus of the total of 4 donors and presidents portraits that Adams made after his admission to the Künstlerhaus (1902). The portrait was made posthumously from an older portrait template and shows that Adams also worked as a copyist when necessary.
The work is one of the only two Adams paintings currently (2024) on public display in Vienna. The second one, The Operation from 1909, a major work of the artist, is on permanent display in the Medical History Museum Josephinum (1090 Vienna Währinger Strasse 25).
Cross-references
Heinrich von Angeli (Presidential portrait), 1903, destroyed. Otto von Seybel (founder portrait), 1912, lost.
Rudolf Leon ("Raoul") Ritter von Wernburg (Founder portrait), 1913.
Exhibited
Permanently exhibited. Künstlerhaus Wien (Salon/Ranftlzimmer), open to the public.
Literature
Provenance
Künstlerhaus Vienna, Stiftergalerie.