- Rudolf Swoboda
Rudolf Swoboda the younger (1859-1914) was a 19th-century Austrian painter, born in Vienna. He studied under
Leopold Carl Müller , and voyaged with him to Egypt in 1880. He was a well-known Orientalist.In 1886,
Queen Victoria commissioned Swoboda to paint several of a group of Indian artisans who had been brought to Windsor as part of theGolden Jubilee preparations. Victoria liked the resulting paintings so much that she paid Swoboda's way to India to paint more of her Indian subjects. [ [http://www.suntimes.co.za/2002/12/01/lifestyle/life24.asp The Times - Interact with us ] at www.suntimes.co.za]Swoboda painted many of the ordinary people of India in a grouping of small (no more than eight inches high) paintings which resulted.
While in India, he stayed, part of the time, with
John Lockwood Kipling , and met his sonRudyard Kipling . The younger Kipling was unimpressed with Swoboda, writing to a friend about two "Austrian maniacs" who thought they were "almighty" artists aiming to "embrace the whole blazing East". [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20021110/ai_n12668312/pg_2 ArtsEtc: `I want to see my subjects as they really are' | Independent on Sunday, The | Find Articles at BNET ] at www.findarticles.com]Upon his return from India, he also painted (in 1888 and 1889) two portraits of
Abdul Karim , the Munshi, Victoria's favorite Indian servant.Most of these Indian paintings hang at
Osborne House , once Victoria's residence on theIsle of Wight . [ [http://www.nationalgallery.co.uk/shop/product_display.asp?ProductId=525090 Product not found ] at www.nationalgallery.co.uk]Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
