Lot 91: Little darling

Hermann Winterhalter (German, 1808-1891)
Little darling
signed 'H. Winterhalter' (middle centre)
oil on canvas, oval
18½ x 15 in. (47 x 38.1 cm.)

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium
From a young age Hermann Fidel Winterhalter was made to follow in his brother's footsteps as a painter. Together with his brother Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1806-73) they ran a very successful studio in Paris. Hermann was an immense support to Franz Xaver's successful international career. Franz Xaver was appointed court painter of Louis-Philippe, the king of France and gained reputation as a specialist in dynastic and aristocratic portraiture. Among his most famous sitters was Queen Victoria. In the 1850s Hermann became more independent, distancing himself from his brother's studio and developed a small portrait practice of his own. Some of his portraits hang in the Louvre and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.