Christian Schad
Portrait of Marie José, Duchess of Bavaria
Artist
Christian Schad
1894 Miesbach - Stuttgart 1982
Further information
Ratzka, I, 63.
Literature
Christian Schad, in: The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, 13 September 1926. Christian Schad, Paintings 1920–1930, Galleria Levante, Milan, 4–28 February 1970, exhibition catalogue, no. 12, with ill. Andrea Heesemann-Wilson, Christian Schad, Expressionist, Dadaist and Painter of New Objectivity. Life and Work until 1945, Göttingen 1978, p. 102, no. 63. Bettina Mirabile, Realismo e Visionarietà nell' Arte di Christian Schad 1894–1982, Rome 1996, no. 72.
Provenance
From the estate of the Dukes in Bavaria.
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Description
Marie José or Maria Josepha of Portugal (1857–1943) was born as Infanta of Portugal, the daughter of King Michael I and his wife, Princess Adelheid of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg. Through her marriage to Carl Theodor, the brother of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, she became Duchess of Bavaria. Carl Theodor studied medicine and specialised in ophthalmology. With his wife’s support, he founded the eye clinic on Nymphenburger Straße, which still exists today. The Duchess worked at the clinic herself; when her husband, who was 18 years her senior, died in 1909, she ran the clinic together with the chief physician, Heinrich Zenker. Schad’s father, Dr Carl Schad, served as Carl Theodor’s estate manager and helped his son secure this commission. He painted the Duchess’s portrait at Tegernsee Castle.