FRANZ XAVER WINTERHALTER : At Their Majesty's Service with Eugene Barilo von Reisberg

For nearly forty years, from the early 1830s to the early 1870s, Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-73) enjoyed a reputation of the most popular and highly sought-after elite portrait specialist of the era. His contemporaries referred to him as the Painter of Princes and the preferred portraitist of “the upper ten thousand.” He worked for the courts of Paris, London, St Petersburg, Berlin, and Vienna, capturing some of the most famous, powerful, and fascinating characters of the day, imbuing them with effortless glamour and timeless elegance. The lecture incorporates materials from recent scholarly publications and a retrospective exhibition of Winterhalter’s works to provide fresh insights into the artist’s legacy and unlock the secrets of his celebrated portraits. 

EUGENE BARILO VON REISBERG is a Melbourne-based lecturer, researcher, and art consultant with a passion for nineteenth-century art, history, and culture. He is currently completing a doctoral dissertation on Franz Xaver Winterhalter, the 19th century elite portrait specialist, at the University of Melbourne.

[image caption] Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-73), Portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), 1865, oil on canvas, Vienna: Hofburg