Portrait of Emmanuel Rio

Provenance

Family of the artist; sold Dorotheum, Vienna, January 30–February 4, 1922, lot 670 as Der patriotische, musikalische Mohr. Oskar Tuschek, Baden bei Wien [according to the invoice from Shepherd & Derom Galleries, in curatorial file]; by descent to his daughter Heidemarie Platzer, Vienna [according to invoice referenced above]. Giese & Schweiger, Vienna [according to invoice referenced above]. Shepherd & Derom Galleries, New York, by 2005; purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago through the Henry Tiefenbronner Endowment, 2005.

Inscriptions

Inscribed lower right: Alb. Schindler 1836

Exhibition history

Vienna, Akademie der bildenden Künste bei St. Anna, 1836, cat. 244, as Portrait des Negers, welcher bei Allerhöchst Seiner Majestät dem Kaiser als Gärtner in Diensten steht.

Publications

Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report 2005 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2005), pp. 20 (ill.), 30. Gloria Groom, “Portrait of a Gardener and Horn Player in the Household of the Emperor Francis I,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 32, 1 (2006), pp. 58–59 (ill.). Ina Marvoka and Walter Sauer, “Waldhornblasender Gärtner: Ein schwarzer Brasilianer im vormärzlichen Österreich. Oder: Vom Wilden zum Weltbürger und wieder zurück?” Wiener Geschichtsblätter 66, no. 2 (2011): 95–110.

Quick Overview

Artist: Albert Schindler (Austrian, 1805–1861)
Date: 1836
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions: 39 × 31.7 cm (15 3/8 × 12 1/2 in.); Framed: 57.2 × 49.6 cm (22 1/2 × 19 1/2 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: painting
Style: nineteenth century
Place: Austria
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Credit line: Henry Tiefenbronner Endowment
Accession no.: 2005.153

Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.