Gaupp, Gustav Adolf (1844-1918), Man with moustache

Gustav Adolf Gaupp(1844 Markgröningen - 1918 Obertürkheim near Stuttgart). Man with a moustache. Oil on canvas, 52 x 42.5 cm (visible size), 71 x 62 cm (frame), signed G. Gaupp. at upper right.

- isolated retouches

About the artwork

The gentleman's body, dressed in red, is parallel to the picture, while his head, slightly tilted forward, is turned to the left in order to take in something beyond the picture that remains hidden from the viewer. The expressive intensity of the head's turn is intensified by the fact that the background and the body merge to form a surface from which the head arches towards the viewer. The sculptural presence, in turn, is heightened by the layered colour composition of the incarnate body. The virtuoso brushwork, reminiscent of Frans Hals, defines the body and background in a transparent manner, so that the unity of the picture is not called into question, despite the protruding head. On the contrary, the triad of colours 'black, red, grey', enlivened by the brushstroke and embedding the incarnate parts, creates an exciting balance.
The turn of the head, which is emphasised in its plasticity, gives the portrait a narrative dimension that culminates in his gaze. As the deeply shadowed eyes suggest, he too is unable to fully perceive what he is looking at, and yet the object of his contemplation demands an inward turn of attention. The narrative quality and the deeply shadowed eyes suggest that this is a study portrait in the style of history painting that Gaupp had learnt from Piloty.

About he artist

Gustav Adolf Gaupp first studied lithography with Adolf von Gnauth at the Stuttgart Art Academy and then painting at the Vienna Academy. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. From 1870 Gaupp studied at the Munich Art Academy and in 1873 he entered the studio of Karl Theodor von Piloty, whose high-contrast colourism influenced Gaupp's work. After two further years of study in Rome and Venice, Gaupp worked as a portrait painter in Hamburg and London from 1880 to 1884. He took part in art exhibitions in Stuttgart, Munich and Düsseldorf.
Works by Gaupp can be found in museums in Stuttgart, Marbach and Biberach.

Selected Bibliography

Ulrich Thieme, Felix Becker: Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Bd. 13, Leipzig 1920, S. 281.