Eugen von Blaas (1843-1932)

A Venetian Flower Seller

Signed and dated 1895
Oil on Panel
35 x 19½ inches – 88.9 x 49.5 cms

Provenance: Private Collection, USA;
with MacConnal-Mason Gallery, London;
Private Collection, UK by 2002 Artist Biography: Eugen von Blaas studied under his father Karl (1815-1894), Professor of the Academy in Vienna and subsequently Venice. It was in Venice in the 1890s that Eugen von Blaas firmly established himself as the leading painter of Venetian genre. This ‘Flower Seller’ is a particularly fine example of the genre. Beautifully dressed in her ornately embroidered bodice and skirt with her lace blouse and vivid red stockings she stands provocatively hand on hip gazing sidelong at an unseen admirer. The artist excels in the detail, the delicate impasto of the lacework, the intricate bodice, the colourful blooms and above all in the flesh tones. However, it is the characterization of the young woman her poise and beauty against a simple backdrop of decayed brickwork that captures the viewer.

His works can be found in museums in: Bournemouth; Leicester; Nottingham; Sheffield; Vienna; Melbourne; Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales.