11817

Preparatory work

German Emperor Wilhelm II, King of Prussia 1908-1909

Standing full-length looking to the right, wearing full dress uniform, as Colonel-in-Chief of the Queen’s Regiment of Cuirassiers of the Guard, with decorations, his right hand holding the reins of his horse, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The architecture of the façade and central dome of the Neues Palais in Potsdam in the background to the left, the triumphal arch within the colonnade behind the palace just indicated on the right, a landscape and a cloudy sky beyond

Oil on board, 50 x 70 cm (27 ½ x 19 ½ in.)

Inscribed verso: The Kaiser with his horse and Study for official portrait / of Kaiser taken by him to / Doorn [in another hand]

Laib (622) / C31(26)  

Sitters' Book I, f. 82: Wilhelm / I.R. II / XII 1908. [on the opposite page, a photograph of three people, inscribed by the artist verso: 1909 / Aug: / Wilhelmshöhe / während eines / ausfluges mit / dem Kaiser  (during an excursion with The Kaiser)]

Studio Inventory, p. 36 (189): The Kaiser and his Horse

Private Collection

PROVENANCE:  

In the possession of the artist on his death;

By descent in the family

LITERATURE:

•Owen Rutter, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, pp. 268-9

Entry in Progress