Bavarian folk  portrait was executed by famous German genre and portrait painter Emil Rau (1858 Dresden - 1937 Munich). 

Emil Rau was born in Dresden in 1858 as the son of the court lithographer Carl Emil Rau. He began his studies in 1875 at the art academy in his hometown and a few years later moved to the academy in Munich. He studied before Alexander Wagner and Wilhelm von Lindenschmit. According to information from this time, Emil Raus was involved in international auctions in Berlin, Dresden and Vienna, where he received the large gold medal in London in 1889. Once you study, you can meet the free painter in Munich. Characteristic of his pictures are the finely observed physiognomies of the figures, the atmospheric lighting of the scenes and his attention to detail.

Although Rau comes from the Lindenschmit school, his choice of subject matter is closer to the Defregger circle and prefers rural genre motifs. The extremely large pool of rural motifs, which show country life from its beautiful side, is constantly being recombined and changed. According to Emil Rau, find out about the products that genre painters from the Munich School also produce. His sensitive, aptly observed scenes of Bavarian folk life have been shown every year since 1890 at the exhibitions in the Munich Glass Palace and, thanks to their handy format and popular themes, are also ideal for furnishing the middle-class living room. Rau dies in Munich in 1937 and is buried in the Nordfriedhof.

Pictures by Rau are in various public collections, including in the municipal gallery in the Lenbachhaus in Munich: “Weiher”, 1880.

Literature: Thieme/Becker "Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künsler..", Leipzig, 1999;

Inscription: signed lower left.

Technique: oil on canvas. Original period frame.

Measurements: unframed w. 13 1/3" x h 17 1/3" (34 x 44 cm), framed w 20 7/8" x h 24 3/4" " (53 x 63 cm).

Condition: in very good condition.