Rudolf Ernst (Austrian, 1854-1932)
Musicians at rest
signed 'R.Ernst' (lower right)
oil on canvas
73 x 92.5cm (28 3/4 x 36 1/2in).
Footnotes:
Rudolf Ernst, a native of Vienna, was a member of an extraordinary generation of Orientalist painters educated at the prestigious Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. In the 1870s and 1880s, the Academy trained painters such as Ludwig Deutsch, Charles Wilda and Jean Discard, under the tutelage of Anselm Feuerbach. Ernst continued his training at the private atelier of August Eisenmenge, before moving to Paris in 1876 where he became a regular exhibitor at the Salon de le Societe des Artistes Francais (despite his Austrian heritage).

Orientalist subjects dominate Ernst's output from 1885, inspired by studying the Moorish architecture of Southern Spain, and by visits to Tangier and Constantinople. Ernst was especially drawn to the Gnaoua, an ethnic group who often worked as ritual musicians and dancers.

Like the work of his great friend and contemporary Ludwig Deutsch, Ernst surrounded himself with objects, textiles and artefacts collected during his travels - props which populate his paintings. He also visited the extensive Exposition d'Art Musulman, held in Paris in 1893, which would have provided endless inspiration.
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The canvas has not been lined and provides a stable support for the work. To the lower right quadrant of the reverse of the canvas there is a small patch repair. There is rubbing to the edges of the work from previous framing, this is most prominent to the left and right edges. To the centre of the right edge there is a diagonal scratch in the paint measuring approximately 2cm. Inspection under UV light reveals only a few small lines of retouching to the aforementioned patch repair and a few minor lines of retouching to the edge of the work.