Object #41

Arnold Schönberg
Gustav Mahler
1910
Oil on board
Catalogue raisonné 82

Belmont Music Publishers, Pacific Palisades

The lines drawn between portraits and fantasies can become indistinct when physiognomic succinctness is dissolved. An example of this is the portrait Gustav Mahler, an assemblage of fragments painted from memory “with a strong mystic mood reminiscent of Edvard Munch” (Georg Eisler, 1978).
“Schönberg was one of the few people whose sheer personality, whose huge skill demanded enormous respect [from Mahler]. And he never withheld this recognition, even when he vainly endeavored to follow the strong-willed trailblazing pursued by this very different kind of musician. Nonetheless, Schönberg was the only musical phenomenon to whom he devoted the closest attention throughout his lifetime.” (Oskar Fried, 1919)