Josef Feid

​Anastasius Grün on Loser (1835)

Anastasius Grün was the pen name of Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg (1806–1876), an Austrian aristocrat who grew up in then bilingual Carniola. He was taught by preeminent Slovenian poet France Prešeren (1800–1849) and developed a lifelong interest in Slovenian poetry. In his poems and as a politician, Grün championed the newly emerging ideas of political liberalism. After the democratic hopes of the 1848 revolutions were crushed, Grün joined Pan-German circles that sought to unite Austria with the German Reich. At the same time, he continued to translate Slovenian folk songs and poems. In this painting by Josef Feid (1806, Vienna, Austrian Empire–1870, Weidling, Austria-Hungary), he is represented on Loser, an iconic peak in the Ausseerland, a relatively remote part of Styria which, over centuries, has retained its symbolic Germanness.

Oil on wood, 45 × 33.5 cm

Neue Galerie Graz / Universalmuseum Joanneum