Lot 18: Josef Franz Danhauser (Vienna 1805-1845)

Josef Franz Danhauser (Vienna 1805-1845)
Study for figures in Die Klostersuppe (recto); Study of a woman standing, her right arm outstretched (verso)
black and white chalk (recto), black chalk heightened with white on grey-blue paper (verso)
13 x 9 5/8 in. (331 x 246 mm.)

Study for figures in the background of Danhauser's 1838 painting Die Klostersuppe. Die Klostersuppe and its pendant painting Der Prasser depicts a wealthy man and his female companion having an elaborate meal, and then, after the man loses his fortune and is reduced to begging, him seeing his former girlfriend on the arm of another wealthy suitor (both at Österreichische Galerie, Vienna, inv. 2088, 2087). The drawing is of the girlfriend and her new suitor who are seen in the left background of the painting.
In the painting, Danhauser has eliminated the young man following the couple. In his notes, Professor Held wrote that the figure on the verso might be a study for a woman in another painting by Danhauser Die Schachpartie (Österreichische Gallerie, Vienna, inv. 1108).