Portrait of the Artist's Family

Friedrich August von Kaulbach painted this intimate family portrait in 1907, showing a domestic scene with the warmth and naturalism of the Munich school. The artist's family is arranged in a comfortable interior, dressed in the fashions of early 20th-century bourgeois Germany. Soft, diffused light falls across their faces, lending the scene an air of quiet contentment.

Kaulbach came from a dynasty of German painters: his grandfather Wilhelm was one of the most famous history painters of the 19th century. Friedrich August focused instead on portraits and genre scenes, working in a style that balanced academic skill with a more relaxed, modern sensibility. His portraits were prized by the Munich elite.

The work held at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, which houses one of the finest collections of 19th-century German painting in the United States. The Frye's founders, Charles and Emma Frye, collected heavily from the Munich school.