The Artist's Studio (1740s–50s): Art, History and Details

The Artist's Studio (1740s–50s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Johann Georg Platzer (Austrian, 1704–1761).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Johann Georg Platzer specialized in small, highly detailed paintings scaled for a connoisseur’s cabinet. At the center of this composition is an idealized portrait of the artist himself, clad in a fur-lined robe and holding a painting for the inspection of a visiting connoisseur. This work makes a statement about painting as a noble and intellectual pursuit, and the importance of rigorous training and practice: the artist at the easel is surrounded by a studio teeming with live models, pupils, assistants, and inspiring examples of art from earlier eras. The paintings on the wall, easel, and floor not only reference great artists of the past, but together present an allegory of the five senses.

Object facts

• Title: The Artist's Studio
• Date: 1740s–50s
• Creator attribution: Johann Georg Platzer (Austrian, 1704–1761)
• Culture: Austria
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on copper
• Dimensions: Framed: 55.6 x 73.3 cm (21 7/8 x 28 7/8 in.); Unframed: 41.9 x 60 cm (16 1/2 x 23 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Paintings
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 2012.41

A detail from the museum

Look closely—there are 12 paintings within this painting!

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund by exchange

Further reading listed by the museum

• Becker, Ulrich. Delikatesse der Malerei: Meisterwerke von Johann Georg Platzer. Alte Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, 19. September 2007-13. Jänner 2008. Graz: Landesmuseum Joanneum, 2007.
• Krapf, Michael. Johann Georg Platzer: der Farbenzauberer des Barock 1704-1761. Wien: Brandstätte, 2014.
• Schaefer, Iris, Anna Bungenberg, and Caroline von Saint-George. Entdeckt!: Maltechniken von Martini bis Monet. 2021, 101.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.