Today Wilhelm Busch (1832 – 1908) is widely known for his picture-books “Max and Moritz” and Fips the Monkey. He is considered a classic example of German humour and was also a poet, draughtsman, and painter. What is probably his most popular and significant self-portrait will be auctioned online on 20 October 2020.

The self-portrait offered for sale at Dorotheum’s “Master Drawings” auction was thought lost since 1949, subsequently only available as a reproduction in art historical literature. It was last shown on the frontispiece of Fritz Novotny’s catalogue “Wilhelm Busch als Zeichner und Maler” (Vienna, 1949), after which point the drawing was lost without a trace.

The rediscovery of the lost self-portrait, which had been in private hands in Austria for several generations, is sensational. It depicts the 62-year-old artist with a wide-brimmed hat and a penetrating gaze, and is one of seven self-portraits drawn between 1853 and 1895.

Compared to the other known self-portraits, this image is characterised by sweeping and energetic pen strokes, lending it particular expressiveness. Dorotheum specialist Astrid-Christina Schierz estimates the pen-and-ink drawing at 12,000 to 16,000 euros.

Wilhelm Busch himself was not very confident in his artistic ability. He destroyed many of his works, which were predominately oil paintings. His quote “you often meet someone who paints pictures, much less often someone who pays for them” humorously and skilfully conveys his disappointed artistic hopes. He achieved far greater fame as a writer, with Albert Einstein describing him in a letter to the Wilhelm Busch Society in 1954 as one of the greatest masters of stylistic accuracy.

MASTER DRAWINGS, PRINTS BEFORE 1900, WATERCOLOURS, MINIATURES
Online Auction until | 20 october 2020, 3 pm, www.dorotheum.com
Viewing starts | 14 october 2020
Venue | Palais Dorotheum, 1010 Vienna, Dorotheergasse 17
Specialist | Astrid-Christina Schierz, tel. +43-1-515 60-546, astrid.schierz@dorotheum.at