Franz Xaver Winterhalter: The Winterhalter Brothers

"Portrait of Lady Rimsky-Korsakov"
by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

"Royal portraits dominated Franz Xaver Winterhalter's work during the 1840s, but not exclusively so. In spite of the pressures exerted on him by the demands of the French and English Courts, he found time to continue his normal practice as a portrait painter in Paris. His sitters were drawn almost exclusively from the highest aristocratic circles in Europe, who found his style irresistible. To a long list of French grandees, were added famous titles from Germany, Belgium, Russia and Poland. 

Without his brother Hermann's support, Winterhalter's task would have been immeasurably more difficult. The business side of the practice, the organization of the studio, the bast production line of replicas, the publication of prints, the manufacture of frames, and the delivery of pictures, fell on the shoulders of the younger man. He was reliable and loyal. Less important portrait commissions were pushed his way; he painted and exhibited charming studies of models, his most individual form of expression; but his chief energies went to aid the development of his brother's career. When Winterhalter went off on his travels to European capitals, he would leave Paris with complete assurance that all was well at home.

Hermann was supported in the studio by assistants, who helped in the task of copying and who probably contributed to the painting of dresses and accessories. Prominent among these assistants were two German artists, both of whom were to have independent careers: Albert Graeffle and Louis Coblitz, both of whom had trained with the Winterhalters in Munich.

Socially, as well as professionally, the two brothers were remarkably self-sufficient and self-contained. Success and wealth did not alter their modest and contented lifestyle. Social climbing was alien to their upbringing; they remained loyal to old friends in Germany and to a limited circle of acquaintances in Paris. Although Franz had become an international celebrity through his portraits of Royalty, he continued to believe that this was only a temporary phenomenon."

To be continued

(Excerpts from the introduction by Richard Ormund, to "Franz Xaver Winterhalter and the Courts of Europe 1830-70.")