Oil on canvas
Germany / Austria, 19th century
Fritz Schider (1846-1907) – Austrian painter and etcher
Overall dimensions, framed: 49 x 58 cm
Good condition
Provenance: German private collection
The artist Fritz Schider dedicated his oeuvre to the depiction of bourgeoisie and everyday life. In 2003, one of his paintings with a similar subject to the present work achieved up to 8,000 Euros at an international auction

The present painting is a work by the Austrian painter Fritz Schider and depicts a doctor’s visit. Thematically, the subject reminds of the famous play “The Imaginary Invalid” by Molière (1622-1673), which was a quite appreciated late Romantic topic. Schider has painted the interior of the sickroom with tonal colors and a very soft touch, so that the whole scene appears in a quite sophisticated atmosphere. In the center, there stands the doctor at the side of Mr. Argan, the imaginary and yet worn out invalid. In the adjacent room in the background, a woman appears in the light.



The painting is in good condition considering its age. The canvas has been relined, strengthened and covered around the edges with framing paper. The edges show slight framing marks. The paint has few craquelure and a few small retouchings, mainly at the left edge. The simple wooden frame is partially gilded and shows small traces of age and use. At its lower edge, there is a small brass plate mounted onto the center which shows the artist’s name and his biographical data. The framed work measures 49 x 58 cm. The stretcher measures 37.5 x 47 cm.



Fritz Schider (1846-1907)

Born in Salzburg, the artist Fritz Schider moved to Munich in 1868, in order to study at the Academy of Arts. He had a very close friendship with the artist Wilhelm Leibl (1844-1900), whose soft use of color eventually inspired him to his personal style. In 1873, Schider married his friend’s niece and moved to Switzerland in 1876, as a consequence of his first teaching assignment through the school of arts and drawing in Basel. Schider published a number of anatomy books for drawing classes, for which the University of Basel awarded him with an honorary doctorate in 1896. His major work, “The Chinese Tower in Munich”, was painted around 1873; today, it is located in the Kunstmuseum Basel. More paintings can be found in the Berlin National Gallery, the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt and at the Dusseldorf Art Museum.

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