Der Maler Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger 1852

Friedrich von Amerling painted this oil on canvas portrait of Johann Nepomuk Schödlberger, a fellow artist, in Austria sometime in the 19th century. Amerling was a sought-after portraitist, and here he depicts Schödlberger with a dignified air, his gaze averted, perhaps contemplating his next landscape. But this is also a depiction of the artist as a professional. Schödlberger’s dark coat and neatly tied cravat speak to the increasing professionalization of art in the 19th century, and the rise of art academies and other institutions. As artists gained greater social recognition, they were also under more pressure to present themselves as respectable members of the middle class. To understand this painting fully, we might look to exhibition records, letters, and other documents to trace the relationship between Amerling and Schödlberger, and to understand their place in the artistic and social world of 19th century Vienna.