Richard Gerstl grew up, studied and fought for recognition in Vienna. With his early death, his career ended abruptly before it had even started. This text traces the artist’s life and work in his home town.
People say he was tremendously self-confident, he believed himself to be a brilliant artist. And apparently he was also very quick-tempered, a true “angry young man”. The letter he addressed to the Ministry of Art and Education on July 22, 1908 is powerful testimony to this. In it, student Richard Gerstl complained that his works had been omitted from an exhibition held at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna – despite his professors having attested to his being someone who was “striking out in new directions”. Gerstl had doubly underlined this passage in his angry letter, which is clear evidence of how he felt very misunderstood. This feeling was probably also why he did not attempt to discuss the matter with the college and lecturers, but instead turned directly to the Ministry to vent his frustration. It was a slight that led to him being expelled from the art school.
Anyone can visit the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. It is located on Schillerplatz, near the Naschmarkt market and the Secession. It is a building with a wonderful patina. The floors housing the painting studios are covered in thick layers of paint, a poster next to the door reads: “It is a beautiful home. It ought to be squatted.” The first floor presents the Academy’s famous painting collection – a treasure trove containing works by Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens and Hieronymus Bosch.
Of course there is a charming café here, too
The first exhibition room features those paintings in the collection that have some direct connection with the house. A dark piece by Martin Ferdinand Quadal, dated 1787, shows the Academy’s nude drawing room and the professors working there at the time – all of them male. It was not until the 1920s that the art school tentatively opened its doors to women. Count Anton of Lamberg-Sprinzenstein’s portrait hangs here complete with heavy frame; he bequeathed 800 paintings to the Academy, thereby laying the foundation for the college’s future collection. And of course, this being Vienna, there is also a charming café as well. It is called “Die Muse” – the muse – and located next to the main entrance. But those wanting to visit the art school had better hurry. From summer or autumn onwards, it will be subject to extensive modernization. And while the work goes on, both the collection and the students will be accommodated elsewhere.
1906, Richard Gerstl rented a studio not far from the Academy, at Gumpendorferstrasse 11 – in the attic of the building housing the Café Sperl, one of Vienna’s most beautiful coffee houses. It is likely that his portrait of Ernst Diez, a young art historian, was made here – today it is part of the Belvedere’s collection. The painting shows Diez elegantly dressed in a blue suit, while his face seems to be dissolving: Stylistically, the piece reveals distinct parallels to the work of Edvard Munch. It had been the avant-garde composer Arnold Schönberg who brought Diez and Gerstl together. Gerstl had become friends with Schönberg, and the circle of bohemians around the musician, which also included Alban Berg and Anton Webern, had become somewhat of a surrogate family to him. Here he found the recognition as an artist he so desperately sought.
Late discovery
During his life time, Richard Gerstl did not have a single exhibition. Nowadays, the artist is widely considered “Austria’s first Expressionist”. It was not until the 1930s that his oeuvre was – posthumously – presented to the Viennese public. In September 1931, art dealer Otto Nirenstein, who later changed his name to Kallir, showcased Gerstl’s works in his Neue Galerie; after Alois Gerstl, Richard’s elder brother, had stored the paintings in a removals warehouse for many years. When Alois first showed Nirenstein the pieces, the gallerist was very impressed, he bought 35 paintings from the artist’s estate. He also secured the option to buy the other remaining works later on, as well. To this day, the space that was to host the first exhibition of Richard Gerstl’s paintings is still a home to art. Galerie nächst St. Stephan is now located in the building in Grünangergasse 1. Otto Kallir fled Austria in 1938. After the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany the Jewish gallerist had first left the country for France, in 1939 he immigrated to New York.
Richard Gerstl may never have reached the level of fame of his contemporaries Kokoschka, Schiele or Klimt, but he is certainly no longer an insider’s tip, either. A few of his works are on view at the Leopold Museum, the house in Vienna’s museum quarter drawing the most visitors. The self-portrait as semi-nude created in 1902 or 1904, with the artist’s haunting gaze turned directly towards the viewer, can be found here. Also a portrait of his brother Alois. And landscape paintings, created in the summer months during a stay by the Traunsee Lake in Gmunden near Salzburg. The young painter’s probably most radical work is here, too: It is a self-portrait showing him gesturing, naked, vulnerable and pensive. An artist showing himself in the nude was actually inconceivable at the time – Gerstl’s painting broke a taboo. The majority of his paintings in the Leopold Museum are now in Frankfurt to form part of the Gerstl Retrospective. The exhibition will later travel to New York.
Ghostly siblings
Some other works by Gerstl are on view at the formidable Viennese Belvedere palace, which houses a spectacular art collection (the probably most famous painting in the museum is Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss [Lovers]” – next to it even hangs a copy, in front of which visitors are allowed to take selfies). The most notable of Gerstl’s works here is the portrait of the sisters Karoline and Pauline Fey. It shows the women looking ghost-like, old, tired and exhausted. Their dresses dissolve into abstract shapes; a strong contrast between light and dark elements dominates the large format, expressive piece. This painting is also on view in Frankfurt.
To find out where Richard Gerstl lived, it is best to take the tram north from the inner city towards Nussdorf. It takes about ten minutes to reach Alsergrund, Vienna’s ninth precinct. The family lived at Nussdorfer Strasse 35. Richard Gerstl lived with his parents until his early death. And he painted some of his most important works here. The painting entitled “Bildnis des Reserveleutnants Alois Gerstl” (Portrait of the Reserve Lieutenant Alois Gerstl) provides a view of the family’s living room. A painting showing an interior with a Thonet chair was presumably also created here, as well as the street scene, which Gerstl probably painted looking out of the window of the flat. Yet nothing here brings the artist to mind, there is not even a commemorative plaque on a wall.
The cover is blown on an affair
The apartment where Arnold Schönberg lived is just a few minutes away by foot, At Liechtensteinstrasse 68-70. Schönberg, his wife Mathilde, Gerstl and some other artist friends would usually stay at Traunsee Lake together in the summer months. It was here that Gerstl and the composer’s wife began an affair. This caused conflict when the musician caught the two in the act. Mathilde Schönberg and Gerstl hurriedly left the vacation spot and returned to Vienna together. Back in the city she finally decided to break things off with her lover and go back to her husband.
Gerstl rented a new studio, at Liechtensteinstrasse 20, on the top floor of what were commercial premises. This building, an impressive structure erected during the economic heyday of the late 19th century, can also be viewed from the street only. Mathilde presumably visited the painter here a few times after their official break-up. And his nude showing her seated on a chair (likely one of the artist’s last paintings altogether) was probably also made in this studio.
The rift between Gerstl and Arnold Schönberg was to be permanent. Being excluded from the circle around the composer was very hard on the young artist. On November 4, 1908 a concert by Schönberg’s students was held at the Vienna Music Society. It was by invitation only and Gerstl did not receive one – he was no longer part of the friendship group. The artist killed himself in his studio. He was just 25 years old.
