(born Vienna in 1856)
„Inneres der Kirche zu Mondsee“ (Interior of the Church at Mondsee), on the reverse titled, signed and dated Leo Reiffenstein 1895 on an exhibition label, various exhibition labels on the reverse, oil on canvas, 96 x 74.5 cm, framed, (Rei)

Künstlerhaus label 1895/2206 confirmed by Mag. Paul Rachler.

Exhibited:
Art exhibition in Stettin 1902, Sächsischer Kunstverein in Dresden, no. 933.

Compare:
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts, Hofheim am Taunus 1979, Vol. II, 1, p. 375, no. 11.

Leo Reiffenstein, son of a German lithographer, attended the Vienna Academy from 1871 where he studied under August Eisenmenger. After his training he was employed in Hans Makart‘s studio. The present work originates from the period when he had already been living in his family‘s villa at Mondsee for two years. The clear colours and loose brushwork lend a liveliness to the scene, softening the initial gloomy weight of his historical paintings. At the beginning of his artistic career he was wholly a proponent of historicism, both in terms of his motifs and style of painting. However, he succeeded in making the transition to a more modern style, dedicating himself primarily to the painting of landscapes.