Lady in an Armchair

By 1846 Viennese furniture makers were leaving behind the plain, straight-lined pieces of the 1830s for a revived rococo of gilded scrolls and deep upholstery. This lady sits in such a chair, red cushions in a curling gilt frame. In 2016 the Belvedere put on an exhibition asking whether the label Biedermeier really fits the painting of these decades. It included this canvas, and the same show set out a series of real chairs tracing that change of style. Her dress is black, with lace at the collar and cuffs, set off by a pearl necklace of several strands, a pearl drop earring, white gloves and a closed fan. A lace cap with pink ribbons and a pink flower frame her smoothly parted hair. The museum does not record her name. It bought the picture in 1923 from a Berlin art dealer.