Lot 250: Portrait of Luitpold Price Regent of Bavaria, three-quarters length

Walther Firle (German, 1859-1929) Portrait of Luitpold Price Regent of Bavaria, three-quarters length signed and dated 'WALTER/FIRLE/1907' (centre left) oil on canvas 48¾ x 41½ in. (124 x 105.4 cm.)

124 x 105.4 cm.

with Kunsthandlung Schöning, Munich. with Galerie Gronet, Munich, October 1998.

The son of a merchant, Walther Firle worked briefly in the company of his father, before enrolling at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1879. In 1882, he was obliged to abandon his studies for financial reasons and he then travelled to Italy and Holland, before settling in Munich. The artist is renowned for his genre pictures, religious compositions and for his portraits. Appointed Royal Professor in 1890, Firle portrayed the Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, Nikolaus Graf von Seebach and Ludwig III of Bavaria, among other members of the Bavarian Aristocracy. Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludwig was the Regent of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, due to the incapacity of his nephews, King Ludwig II and the younger King Otto Luitpold. A great supporter of the Arts, the Prince Regent sat to Firle for several portraits, of which the present work is a great example.