"Best of Friends"
Carl Reichert (Austrian, 1836-1918)
Oil on wood panel
10 5/8 x 9 1/2 inches frame size

A tenderly and well executed portrait of two dogs, best of friends, of nearly comically different proportions. Reichert was a master of animalier and dog portraiture with the ability to capture the personalities of his sitters.

A painter of genre, animals and town scenes, Reichert was born in Vienna on August 27, 1836, and died in Gratz on April 5, 1918. He was the son of the portrait and animal painter Heinrich Reichert, the brother of Heinrich Reichert who painted theatre scenery and the nephew of Bonfiaz Heinrich and Franz Heinrich Reichert. Carl was a student at the Academy of Drawing in Gratz, he then went on to study in Munich. And from 1866 to 1867, Reichert then studied in Rome. Beginning in 1869 until 1910 he worked in Vienna and then later in Gratz.

Reichert eventually was to be recognized for his outstanding skill as an animal portraitist. After a commission by Count Hill of the Reintal Castle, Reichert caught the attention of the Austrian imperial court. Eventually Reichert painted over 600 additional portraits, all rendered in impressive detail of Austrian nobilities' pets. It was in Vienna where his best genre paintings of dogs and cats were created.

Carl Reichert remains very well known for his small-scale highly detailed portraits of dogs. His amazing animal portraits are to be found in the best animal collections in the world. The museum in Baden-Baden houses a work by the artist.

Reichert also signed with the pseudonym "J. Hartung."