LUDWIG DEUTSCH PAINTINGS FOR SALE & BIOGRAPHY
LUDWIG DEUTSCH
Austrian, 1855-1935
BIOGRAPHY
Ludwig Deutsch "ranks among the best of the nineteenth-century Orientalists,” writes Kristian Davies in his 2017 essay on the artist. "Today his work is highly sought after for its exceptional detail and precision, which at its best verges on a virtual trompe l'oeil of photographic realism; yet his brushwork still bears a lush, painterly richness. Deutsch is especially known for his images of standing guards and sentries, as well as his diverse depictions of daily life in Cairo, from scholars in their study, to street scenes depicting narghile smokers, merchants and street entertainers. Though never a teacher with the kind of influence or following of a Jean-Léon Gérôme or fellow Viennese, Leopold Müller, he did spawn a number of imitators especially among other Austrian expatriates living in Paris. Deutsch was a private man who has sometimes been described as a hermit. Today very little is known about him. The kinds of personal correspondence, letters and journals that one so often takes for granted when researching other artists do not seem to be readily available in any museum archives. For a painter as prolific as he was, enjoying four productive decades as an active, exhibiting artist, that so little is known about him is certainly a testament to the privacy in which he lived his life.
"Born in Vienna on 13 May 1855, Ludwig Deutsch's early artistic training came from Karl Meyer at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, beginning in 1872. Deutsch is also believed to have studied with Anselm Feuerbach, the famous history painter, from 1875 to 1877. In one of the few anecdotes known about his life, it is said that after Feuerbach retired, Deutsch and another future Orientalist, Jean Discart, tried to join the atelier of the Orientalist master, Leopold Müller - but they were turned down. Nevertheless. Deutsch may have already had his eyes on Paris, the final destination for countless European and American artists in the late nineteenth century...
"Ludwig Deutsch arrived in Paris in 1878. Despite his self-imposed exile from Vienna, he does seem to have associated with a number of other Austro-Hungarian expatriate painters living in Paris, like Johann Discart, Arthur von Ferraris and his lifelong friend Rudolf Ernst. These artists all seem to have influenced each other; their depictions of Cairo street scenes, from from standing guards to coffee drinkers, all bear an original look that became unique to the 'Austrian School' of Orientalists.
"Deutsch established a studio in the Pigalle area of the tenth arrondissement. Later he changed his address to 11 Rue Navarin, which was listed as his home and studio in Paris Salon catalogues from 1885 to 1905. He would eventually also establish a studio in the south of France. Settling into Paris, Deutsch studied under Jean-Paul Laurens, an accomplished history painter who focused on premodern subject matter, from the Bible to the Middle Ages; Laurens's paintings and murals today bear the monumentality of modern Hollywood period pieces. Deutsch's first submission to the Salon des Artistes Français in 1879 reflected Laurens's influence as a historical painter; the work was entitled, Doña Jeanne Bohorques, Martyr of the Inquisition. Certainly Laurens's influence in depicting the theatrical and dramatic can be seen in Deutsch's later work of fierce sentries and contemplative scribes - all of which are infinitely cinematic.
"It did not take long for Deutsch to take an interest in Middle Eastern subject matter. His earliest Orientalist works are dated 1881. Most sources seem certain that Deutsch took at least three trips to Egypt, in 1886, 1890 and 1898 - though it has been suggested that he might have travelled to the Middle East as early as 1883. The artist won Gold Medals both at the 1892 Salon and at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. Deutsch was also awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by the French Government.
"Around 1909 Deutsch began experimenting in looser, Post-Impressionist styles. Some of these later paintings have an almost Fauvist colour palette. This was not an uncommon occurrence; whether through fascination or obligation, many of the artists who had been masters of academic realism did, later in life, dabble in the various Modernist styles that were taking over the art world. Deutsch's later, looser work often seems clumsy and unnatural - when compared to the quality of paintings created between 1880 and 1905.
It is assumed that Deutsch left France during the First World War due to the official hostilities between France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He might possibly have gone to North Africa during the war. After World War I he returned; his work reappeared once more in Paris at the Salon of 1919. Having gained French citizenship, from then on Deutsch signed his name 'Louis,' rather than ‘Ludwig’ - a sure indication that he had some unresolved issues with his Austrian origin. Records indicate that the artist regular continued to exhibit paintings in Paris up until 1925. He and his friend Rudolf Ernst were also visitors to one another's studio up until their last days.”
[Kristian Davies, introd., Emily M. Weeks, and Caroline Williams, The Art of Ludwig Deutsch from the Shafik Gabr Collection, London, 2017, pp. 8-9, 12]
Museum Collections
Dahesh Museum of Art, New York
Lusail Museum, Doha, Qatar
