Wilhelm Leibl: The Art of Seeing

Wilhelm Leibl: The Art of Seeing by Albertina Wien, Bernhard von Waldkirch, Marianne von Manstein, and Züricher Kunstgesellschaft explores the work of Wilhelm Leibl (1844-1900), who is regarded as one of the most significant portraitists and a key figure in European Realism.

This volume includes large-format illustrations of 40 paintings and 60 drawings, accompanying the first comprehensive museum exhibition focused on portraits and representations of figures, to be shown in Switzerland and Austria.

Leibl explained his approach to modern figure painting by emphasising his retreat to the countryside. For him, the decisive factor in a portrait was not the model's attractiveness, but how he or she was presented in a good light.

The publication provides insightful contributions on Leibl's position between tradition and modernity, his impact on European Realism, and his notable affinity for the colour black. It also discusses his relationship with Degas, his connections to Hungary, and his significance for the art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.