Magdalena Plach

Künstler*in Hans Makart (1840 Salzburg – 1884 Wien)

Object typePainting
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
160 × 125 cm
SignatureSign. und dat. links unten: Hans Makart 1870
Inventory number1258
Locations Belvedere, Upper Belvedere, 1. Floor (east), Room NO1
Magdalena Plach, wife of the Viennese art dealer Georg Plach, has been portrayed in profile from quite a low angle. Her face is outlined against the background like a silhouette.
The lavish fabric of her white dress adds volume to her figure and emphasizes her presence. Emperor Franz Joseph I had called Makart to Vienna in 1869. And it was this portrait that helped secure the young artist’s breakthrough one year later. Women from the aspirational bourgeoisie were particularly impressed and everyone wanted a portrait by Makart. His patrons were those entrepreneurs, merchants, and bankers who had made their fortunes through industrialization. Their residences are a defining characteristic of Vienna’s grand boulevard, the Ringstrasse.

Lady at a Spinet