Johann Mathias Ranftl (Austrian, 1805-1854), Portrait Sketch of Two Children

Pencil and black and red chalks on paper, 1827, signed and inscribed in Cyrillic "Moscow 11. Juni 1827," framed below glass.

Sight size 15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.; Frame dimensions 18 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.

Estate of the artist, left to the Künstlerhaus, Vienna
Acquired www.Sothebys.com, July 6th, 2000

Johann Mathias Ranftl was born in Vienna and entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1817, studying under Johann Baptist Lampi, Anton Petter, and Johann Peter Krafft. After early travels through Switzerland and Germany, he exhibited successfully at the Academy beginning in 1826. That same year, Ranftl traveled to Russia, working in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he received numerous portrait commissions and gained access to court circles. In 1836, he accompanied Prince Paul Esterházy to London, where he encountered contemporary British painting, particularly the work of Edwin Landseer. Ranftl returned to Vienna and became a prominent figure in Biedermeier painting, producing portraits, religious commissions, genre scenes, and animal paintings; his celebrated depictions of dogs earned him the nickname “Dog Raphael.” He was elected a member of the Vienna Academy in 1849 and remained active in the city until his death in 1854.

Some toning and foxing to the sheet.