Commerce Counselor Ebenstein

Modern Art

1908

Oskar Kokoschka
English, born Austria, 1886–1980

The sitter for this portrait, Ernest Ebenstein, was a distinguished tailor to the Austrian aristocracy. Ebenstein took an interest in the young Oskar Kokoschka and offered not only to make the artist’s clothes but also to instruct him in anatomy. In exchange for a fine suit, the tailor commissioned this portrait, which was one of the first mature works Kokoschka ever completed. Shortly after the Art Institute acquired the work in the mid-1950s, the artist visited the museum and recalled Ebenstein as a charming and kind man who taught him more about anatomy than anyone else.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Modern Art

Artist: Oskar Kokoschka
Title: Commerce Counselor Ebenstein
Place: England (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1908
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Signed, l.r.: "O K"
Dimensions: 101.8 × 81.1 cm (40 1/16 × 31 15/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Joseph WInterbotham Collection
Reference Number: 1956.364
Copyright: © 2018 Fondation Oskar Kokoschka / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ProLitteris, Zurich

Paul Cassirer, X. Ausstellung Paul Cassirer (Berlin, 1910).
Hagenbund Wien, Sonderausstellung Malerei und Plastik (Vienna, 1911).
Café “Park Schönbrunn,” Kollektiv-Ausstellung Oskar Kokoschka (Karlsbad, 1911).
Paul Westheim, Oskar Kokoschka (Potsdam and Berlin, 1918).
Paul Cassirer, Sonderausstellung: Bildnisse von Oskar Kokoschka. Menschen und Tiere (Berlin, 1927).
Kunsthaus Zürich, Oskar Kokoschka. Ausführlicher Katalog (Zurich, 1927).
Ernest Brown & Phillips, Leicester Galleries, Catalogue of an Exhibition of Paintings by Oskar Kokoschka (London, 1928), p. 6 (ill.).
National-Galerie, Ausstellung neuerer deutscher Kunst aus Berliner Privatbesitz (Berlin, 1928).
Georg Biermann, “Oskar Kokoschka,” Junge Kunst, vol. 52 (Leipzig/Berlin, 1929), no. 2.
Hans Heilmaier, Kokoschka (Paris, 1929), no. 3.
Galeries Georges Petit, Exposition Oskar Kokoschka (Paris, 1931).
Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Oskar Kokoschka. Das Gesammelte Werk (Mannheim, 1931).
Edith Hoffmann, Kokoschka: Life and Work (London, 1947), no. 11.
Kunsthalle Basel, Oskar Kokoschka (Basel, 1947).
Kunsthaus Zürich, Oskar Kokoschka (Zurich, 1947).
Stedelijk Museum, Oskar Kokoschka (Amsterdam, 1947).
Giulia Veronesi, et al., La XXIV Biennale di Venezia (Bergamo, 1948).
Haus der Kunst, Oskar Kokoschka. Aus seinem Schaffen 1907-1950 (Munich, 1950).
Galerie Beyeler, Bilder des 20. Jahrhunderts (Basel, 1952).
Fritz Novotny, Der Maler Anton Romako, 1832-1889 (Vienna, 1954), p. 73 (ill.).
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Modern European Art Since Manet (Winnipeg, 1955).
Curt Valentin Gallery, Closing Exhibition (New York, 1955), no. 67.
The Arts Club, Oskar Kokoschka: Paintings, Drawings, Prints (Chicago, 1956).
Hans Maria Wingler, Oskar Kokschka: The Work of the Painter (Salzburg, 1958), no. 10.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961).
Oskar Kokoschka, Mein Leben (Munich, 1971).
Österreichische Galerie im Oberen Belvedere, Oskar Kokoschka zum 85. Geburtstag (Salzburg, 1971).
Burckhardt Rukschcio and Roland Schachel, Adolf Loos: Leben und Werk (Salzburg and Vienna, 1982), (ill).
Werner Schweiger, Der junge Kokoschka. Leben und Werk 1904-1914 (Vienna and Munich, 1983), p. 187 (ill).
The Tate Gallery, Oskar Kokoschka,1886-1980 (London, 1986).
Margherita Andreotti, “Oskar Kokoschka, Commerce Counselor Ebenstein,” The Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, vol. 20, no. 2 (1994), pp. 136-137 (ill).
Johann Winkler and Katharina Erling, Oskar Kokoschka: Die Gemälde (Salzburg, 1995 ), no. 16.

Berlin, Galerie Paul Cassirer, X. Ausstellung Paul Cassirer, June 21-July 11, 1910, no. 10.
Hagen, Folkwang-Museum, Oskar Kokoschka, August 1910.
Karlsbad, Café ‘Park Schönbrunn,’ Kollektiv-Ausstellung Oskar Kokoschka, July 1-August 15, 1911, cat. no. 3.
Vienna, Hagenbund, Sonderausstellung Malerei und Plastik, February 1911, no. 39.
Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Bildnisse von Oskar Kokoschka. Menschen und Tiere, February 1927, no. 6.
Kunsthaus Zürich, Ausstellung Oskar Kokoschka, 6 June-17 July 1927, no. 2.
Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Ausstellung neuerer deutscher Kunst aus Berliner Privatbesitz, April 1928, no. 78.
London, Ernest Brown & Phillips, Leicester Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings by Oskar Kokoschka, June 8-30, 1928, no. 18.
Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Oskar Kokoschka. Das gesammelte Werk, January 18-March 1, 1931, no.1.
Paris, Galeries Georges Petit, Exposition Oskar Kokoschka, March 18-April 10, 1931, no.2.
Kunsthaus Zürich, Oskar Kokoschka, July 4-August 31, 1947, no.2.
Kunsthalle Basel, Oskar Kokoschka, March 22-April 27, 1947, no. 121.
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Oskar Kokoschka, November-December 1947, cat. no. 2.
Venice, La XXIV Biennale di Venezia, July-October 1948, no. 2.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Oskar Kokoschka. Aus seinem Schaffen 1907-1950, September-October 1950, no. 2; travelled to: Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, February-March 1951, cat. no. 3.
Basel, Galerie Beyeler, Bilder des 20. Jahrhunderts, April-May 1952, no. 18.
New York, Curt Valentin Gallery, Closing Exhibition, closed June 8, 1955, no. 67.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Modern European Art Since Manet, October 11-30, 1955, no. 38.
Chicago, The Arts Club, Oskar Kokoschka: Paintings, Drawings, Prints, October 1-31, 1956, no. 4.
Vienna, Österreichische Galerie im Oberen Belvedere, Oskar Kokoschka zum 85. Geburtstag, April 27-June 16, 1971, no. 6.
London, The Tate Gallery, Oskar Kokoschka,1886-1980, June 11-August 10, 1986, no. 4; travelled to Zurich, Kunsthaus, September 4-November 9, 1986, no. 4 and New York, Guggenheim Museum, December 9-February 15, 1987, no. 3.

Ernest Ebenstein, Vienna [commissioned portrait from artist], 1908-September 22, 1926. Purchased by Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin, September 22, 1926. Purchased by Hugo Simon, Berlin (later Paris and Rio de Janeiro), February 1, 1927-c. 1954. Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, by 1954-June 1955. Galerie St. Etienne, New York, by October 1955 [Winnipeg 1955]. Purchased by Art Institute, December 1956.

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