Face to Face – 19th-century Austrian portrait painting

Giving a face to an era full of changes

19th-century Austrian portrait painting is striking in its sheer variety of styles. From the ancient ideals of classicism, through intimate, detailed works of the Biedermeier and Romantic periods and lifelike realism, all the way to sumptuous historicism and the innovative approach of symbolism, Jugendstil, and later, expressionism, portrait painting reflects a truly colourful period of history.