Privy councillor Georg Langer
  • Franz Skarbina
  • Berlin 1849 - 1910
  • Privy councillor Georg Langer
  • watercolour over pencil, on board, on an old mount
  • monogrammed with pencil on the lower right: F. Sk.,
    inscribed on the former mount: Geheimrat Langer
  • 473 × 316 mm

After studying at the Berlin Academy, Franz Skarbina opened his own studio on the prominent Leipziger Platz in 1880. Simultaneously, however, he taught anatomical drawing at the University of the Arts in his hometown. He interrupted this work in 1885 with a long study visit to Paris, which encouraged him in his role as illustrator of the diverse social classes in a modern capital. After differences arose with the imperial-conservative director Anton von Werner, Skarbina gave up his professorship in 1893 and increased his activity in the newly-formed Berlin Secession, to which his colleague Max Liebermann also belonged.

This image probably depicts the privy councillor Georg Langer, deputy chairman of the Shipbuilding Society in Berlin. This association was founded in 1899 under the auspices of Emperor Wilhelm II, a maritime enthusiast. Franz Skarbina probably knew this gentleman better, since he portrayed him in 1901 as well, in a multi-figure painting: Emperor Wilhelm Speaks to the Members of the Shipbuilding Society in the Auditorium of the Technical University Berlin-Charlottenburg. This society still exists today and now has its headquarters in Hamburg.

This portrait shows the contemplative elderly gentleman in a frock coat, with a cane and top hat – in an official gesture, for in his right arm he holds a laurel wreath, which he will next lay down as a tribute. This positioning simultaneously speaks to the spontaneous execution of the image, in contrast to many of the full-length portraits on paper, which Skarbina liked to paint in his atelier. A particularly free watercolour technique and sophisticated lighting also indicate the artist’s typical signature.