This early 20th-century oil painting by Austrian artist Karl Viktor Mayr (1882-1974) depicts a plush Biedermeier interior with a dressing table, chairs, and various apparel/accessories.

The morning after the night before - dress nonchalantly draped, shoes exactly where she stepped out of them, open fan casually discarded. It was evidently an enjoyable soirée and perhaps she’s leaving this for the maid. The dress appears to date to the mid-19th century and features a bell-shaped design. In a similar piece, Mayr painted two ladies in this room, dressed in similar outfits.

The furnishings align with the style of the Biedermeier period (1815-1848), whereby the emphasis was placed upon comfort and elegance. It was a time of simple pleasures, genteel domestic bliss, and conservative principles. Imagine a middle-class family taking tea in a refined parlour, while their son and daughter perform a double act on the fortepiano.

Mayr painted this interior numerous times between 1921 and 1943 with slight adjustments to the layout. On occasion, it’s used as a dining space, but in this instance, it appears to be a dressing room.

Mayr was a member of the ‘Vienna Art Community’ and took part in regular exhibitions. He also worked as a drawing teacher.

Signed in the lower left and held within a gilt 20th-century frame with egg and dart beneath a plain top edge.

Learn more about Karl Viktor Mayr in our directory.

Medium: Oil on board
Overall size: 21” x 25½” / 54cm x 65cm
Year of creation: c. 1921
Provenance: Private collection, Vienna.
Condition: Cleaned. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £3,202 for ‘Ein Exotisches Modell (1903)’, Oil on canvas, Vienna, Austria, 2002.
Our reference: BRV2030