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Lot Essay
Agricola trained in Karsruhe and then in Vienna with Friedrich Heinrich Füger and by the turn of the century had eclipsed his teacher as the preeminent portrait painter in Vienna. The present drawing however, is not a commission, but rather an intimate, charming portrait of the artist's family. Dated 20 July 1820, it depicts the artist's son Carl when he was just four months old as he is adoringly watched over by the artist's wife and mother. Agricola's precise handling of the pigment and controlled, minute brushstrokes attest to his training as a miniaturist.
In a recently rediscovered sketchbook by Agricola there is a drawing of a family that includes parents with two young children and a grandmother that may possibly be the Agricola family once again (see The album of Carl Agricola, 1779-1852: neo-classical figures & early romantic landscapes, exh. cat., New York, Shepherd & Derom Galleries, pp. 10-11, no. 3).
In a recently rediscovered sketchbook by Agricola there is a drawing of a family that includes parents with two young children and a grandmother that may possibly be the Agricola family once again (see The album of Carl Agricola, 1779-1852: neo-classical figures & early romantic landscapes, exh. cat., New York, Shepherd & Derom Galleries, pp. 10-11, no. 3).