Oil on canvas. Early European School XVIII19th century attributed to Johann Kupezky.
Our falconer with his melancholic gaze was painted by Johann Kupezky, one of the most cosmopolitan painters of Central Europe. With vigorous brushstrokes and generous impasto, the young man, wearing a beret, is captured in a moment of turning. The composition depicts him within a simulated oval, on which he appears to be leaning. Our portrait, realistic without being idealized, does not escape Kupezky's artistic truth, which portrays a balding young man with dark circles under his eyes with great psychological depth.
With a considerable output estimated at over 1000 paintings, Kupezky almost never signed his works. Our portrait could very likely be considered part of his oeuvre.

Our painting is presented in a strong, guilloché, reverse-profile frame made of blackened wood.
Dimensions: 83 x 65 cm – 105 x 87 cm with frame

Biography :
Jan or Johannes Kupezky or Kupeckahy (Pezinok, Slovakia 1666/67 – Nuremberg 1740). A Hungarian by birth, he went to Vienna in 1684, where he resided for three years. He then embarked on a long, twenty-two-year sojourn in Italy, visiting Venice, Bologna, Florence, and Mantua. There, he drew inspiration from numerous Italian masters, most notably Guido Reni. Returning to Vienna in 1709, he took inspiration from the grand state portraits of Rigaud and Largillière to cater to the tastes of his clientele. From this same year date the portrait of the miniaturist Karl Bruni (Prague Museum) and his Self-Portrait (Belvedere Palace, Vienna), of which several replicas exist. He acquired such renown that Peter the Great summoned him to paint his portrait (Brunswick, Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum). After 1723, fearing for his faith in a Catholic world – he was a member of the Moravian Brethren confession, a branch of Protestantism originating in Moravia – Kupezký took refuge in Nuremberg.

References:
– NYARI Alexander, Der Portratmaler Johann Kupetzky Sein Leben Und Seine Werke (1889), reissue Kessinger's Legacy reprints, 2010
– SAFARIK Eduard A., Johann Kupezky (1666-1740), Gesamtverk, reissue 2014
– SCHWEMMER Wilhem, Johann Kupetzky, in: Lebensbilder Franken 7, 1977
– SAFARIK Eduard A., Johann Kupezky, Ein Meister des Barockportraits, De Luca, 2001.