(Vienna 1801–1862)
Large Thistle Still Life with Goldfinch, oil on canvas, 79.5 x 65 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Dr. Wilhelm Danhofer (1914–1991), Graz (verso note of ownership);

Compare:
Galerie Szaal (ed.), Franz Xaver Gruber 1801–1862. monography, Vienna 2008 p. 54, no. 4.

The epithet „Distelgruber,“ as Franz Xaver Gruber was called, can be well understood in the work presented here. He was trained at the Vienna Academy and drew on a rich repertoire of previous generations in terms of flower and plant painting. On the one hand, the Imperial Picture Gallery had many works by Dutch flower painters of the 17th and 18th centuries; on the other hand, artists such as Johann Baptist Drechsler, Sebastian Wegmayer or Franz Xaver Petter were excellent models and contemporaries for this painter. In addition, the artist attended lectures in botany at the University of Vienna, which also gave him scientific access to the subject.With the thistle as the central theme of the painting, Gruber chooses a plant that does not have the reputation of possessing something lovely or beautiful. Nevertheless, the artist is able to master the image theme in bravura manner. The plant in a prominent position dominates the painting whilst the view in the background opens onto a rock and a wide landscape. Enriched by details, the viewer is always able to discover something new. Despite the almost scientific exactness with which Gruber tackles the subject, artistic ambition is paramount in his works. He was regarded as an indefatigable spirit who, in addition to a rich production of paintings and watercolours, was also an exceptionally dedicated teacher to his students, whom he trained at the Vienna School of Manufacture, which at the time was part of the Academy. Botanists such as Joseph Georg Beer also made use of his artistic talent in the depiction of plants and flowers for scientific purposes.