Self Portrait with the Artist's Wife by Albert Janesch

Albert Janesch 1889-1973 | Austrian Self Portrait with the Artist's Wife Signed "Albert Janesch" (lower right); inscribed and dated "MEIN SELBSTBILDNIS IM 43./ LEBENSJAHR/ MIT MEINEM BRAVEN/ WEIBE MARIA ANTAONIA./ WEIN IM JAHRE 1933." (upper right) Oil on canvas This haunting self portrait by the Viennese painter Albert Janesch is an exceptional example of his distinctive style. Masterfully conceived, the work is a play on the popular vanitas genre of painting that harkens back to Netherlandish art of the 16th century. As the artist enjoys the simple pleasures of life — a drink in hand while painting with his wife and dog — a skeleton looms in the background as a reminder of man's mortality. The artist seems to urge the viewer with each detail to enjoy life's simple pleasures while you can. Death waits for us all. Born in Vienna in 1889, Albert Janesch was formally trained at the Graphic Arts Teaching and Research Institute and the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He was the recipient of the highly competitive Prix de Rome in 1912 and studied in Italy for a year thereafter. During the First World War, he served as a wartime artist on the frontlines with the Imperial and Royal Press Quartier. For his work, he was award first prize in 1916 for a special war memorial competition. Today, many of his wartime works can be found in the Museum of Military History (Vienna) and the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna. After the war, Janesch enjoyed a career as a successful painter of portraits, landscapes and genre scenes. He received the Prize of the city of Vienna in both 1924 and 1929, and in 1928, he was award the State Prize. In 1954 the Vienna Kunsthaus dedicated an exhibition solely to his work, and he went on to receive the Great Golden Medal of Honor in 1966 and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art in 1970. He died just a few years later in Vienna on May 10, 1973. Dated 1933 Canvas: 40" high x 36" wide Frame: 46 1/4" high x 42 1/2" wide Exhibited: Künstlerhaus, Vienna, 1933 XIX Esposizione Biennale Internaziole d'Arte, Venice, May-October, 1934, no. 341 Große deutsche kunstausstellung, Haus de Deutschen Kunst, Munich, 1937