Extremely rare original watercolour of the Duchess of Bavaria, futured Empress Elisabeth ( Sisi) of Austria (1837 - 1898), the wife of Austrian Imperor Franz Josef. The author of this watercolour , famous Austrian portrait painter in watercolour, miniature and oil Eduard Kaiser (1820 Graz - 1895 Vienna) depicted futured Austrian Empress as young Duchess of Bavaria by the walking on the shore of Lake Starnberg near Munich, where her family owned Schloss Possenhofen since 1834.

Eduard Kaiser (born February 22, 1820 in Graz, † August 30, 1895 in Vienna) was an Austrian painter and lithographer.Eduard Kaiser was a son of Joseph Franz Kaiser, owner of a lithographic institute in Graz. He studied at the Vienna Academy under Josef Danhauser. Soon he was a serious competitor for the then Viennese master of portrait lithograph Josef Kriehuber.Inspired by the ideals of revolution, he joined the Academic Legion. During this time he portrayed almost all important figures of the March Revolution (Josef Radetzky, Franz Schuselka, Hans Kudlich Adolf Fischhof, Carl Giskra). In 1852/53 he lived in Rome. After his return, he developed a very productive activity as a portrait lithographer (Emperor Franz Joseph I, Empress Elisabeth, Friedrich Hebbel, Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann).1867-1886 he lived again in Rome, where he devoted himself with great success to the watercolor reproduction of classical masterpieces. These reproductions were sold in England as color lithographs. After his return to Vienna, he returned to portraiture, both in oil and watercolor.

Literature: Prof.H.Fuchs " Die Österreichischen Maler", Vienna, 1975; Thieme/Becker "Lexicn of artists from antique to contemporary" (in German), Leipzig, 1999.

Inscription: signed lower right.

Technique: watercolour on paper, in original period gold-plated frame.

Measurements: image w 5 7/8" x h 4 3/8" (15 x 11,3 cm), framed w 9 7/8" x h 11" (25 x 28 cm).

Condition: in good condition.