(Vienna 1806–1880)
Imperial Count Moritz II von Fries (1804–1887), signed, dated F. Eybl (1)845, on the right edge indistinctly signed, dated (scratched) Franz Eybl (1)8.., oil on canvas, 126 x 105 cm, framed

Compare:
Franz Eybl, portrait of Moritz I von Fries, oil on canvas, 69 x 56 cm, Wienmuseum, inventory no. 33444.

Franz Eybl is one of the most important Austrian portrait painters of the 19th century. Already at the age of 10, he was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he first attended the Erzverschneidungs- und Kunstprofessionistenschule under Josef Klieber. In 1817 he changed to landscape painting and then to the class of history painting. His teacher Johann Peter Krafft encouraged him to observe nature closely and thus Eybl became one of Krafft’s most important students. In his portraits he always strived for truthfulness and true-to-life representation - as in the present lot, in which he is able to carefully and realistically portray living skin and the fine materiality of clothing.
It shows Moritz II von Fries (1804-1887), the son of Maria Theresa Princess of Hohenlohe-Waldburg-Schillingsfürst and Moritz I Christian Johann von Fries, one of the most important bankers and art patrons in 19th -century Vienna. Unfortunately, his father had little understanding of finance and due to his careless and wasteful ways with money, shares in the banking house Fries & Co. had to be sold. The financial collapse made it necessary to sell the Palais Fries and the art collection, which was auctioned between 1823 and 1828. Count Moritz II von Fries went to Rio de Janeiro as a diplomat in the imperial service and married Flora Pereira, heiress of the banking house Pereira & Eskeles, in 1836. Through this union with a member of one of the richest Austrian banking houses, he was able to escape the ruin his father had left him and helped the third generation of von Fries counts to prosperity again.
The impressive portrait shows the well-off count sitting in an armchair upholstered with luxuriant fabric. His arm rests on a side table covered with a patterned carpet. The materials are depicted with delicate precision and meticulous detail and bear testimony to the painter’s great skill.