HUNGARIAN SCHOOL, circa 1800

View of a Village Near Eisenstadt

Pencil on joined paper, 19 x 42-1/4 in. (48.3 x 107.3 cm), slightly irregular;

in a molded gilt frame overall 25-1/2 x 48-1/2 in. (65 x 123) cm.

Michael Mayr, the pre-eminent stage designer of the Biedermeier period, sought refuge in Eisenstadt after early overextension in Vienna.  With the patronage of the Princes Esterházy, he recouped in Eisenstadt and accumulated a renowned collection of drawings, prints and books related to the theater.  This large joined sheet embodies his love of rambling around Eisenstadt, searching out items and creating his own drawings from nature.  The view is possibly toward the Leithaberge hills north of Eisenstadt, then part of the Hungarian Empire, near the present border with Hungary; thus János Scholz retained this drawing in his personal collection undoubtedly as a memento of his homeland.  The purpose of the drawing, superimposing a much less finished bottom portion with an imposing large church in outline onto the elaborate panoramic village view of the top portion, is enigmatic; perhaps the draftsman wanted to show an architectural concept in the design stage. 

This sheet was pieced together from eight smaller sheets pasted together, the joins on the verso later reinforced with paper tape.  The laid paper of the bottom, less finished portion of the sheet is very similar, but not identical, to the paper of the top portion (no watermarks).  The sheet has three vertical fold marks corresponding to the vertical joins, two horizontal paste lines, and creases and rippling throughout.  Minor staining and paper discoloration (but not the shadowing on the right of the image here, the result solely of uneven lighting in the photographing of the large sheet, which is actually evenly toned).  Scattered surface soiling, foxing, edge nicks and pinprick punctures.  The sheet is mounted archivally under a mat faced with heavy hand-made off-white Khadi paper.

Provenance:

Michael Mayr, Eisenstadt (1796-1870);

Josef Fájt, Eisenstadt (1801-1891), by descent;

Marianne Fájt, Eisenstadt (1860-1946), his niece, by descent;

János Scholz (1903-1993), by purchase of a block of the Mayr-Fájt Collection in 1939;

Collection of Helen Huntington Marshall (Schelling) Scholz (1918-2007) and János Scholz.

Detail