Painting of the noted oboist and composer signed P. Musin after the original by Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). Late 20th century
Fischer is depicted standing, leaning on a piano with pensive upward gaze, quill pen in hand. An oboe lies prominently on top of the piano in front of an open book of music, with additional large folio volumes (?music) somewhat haphazardly arranged on the floor; a violin and bow sir on a chair behind him.
Image size 407 x 260 mm.; overall size 480 x 335 mm. A modern reproduction in a wooden frame gilt.
Minor short (ca. 35 mm) vertical surface scratch to left portion of pile of books.
Fischer performed at the court of Frederick the Great, the Concert Spirituel in Paris, the Dresden Opera, and the Hague, where the Mozart family heard him play; he performed regularly with both J.C. Bach and Abel in concert.
"It was probably 'The Ingenious Mechanick' John Joseph Merlin (1735-1803) who during the early 1770s built London's large pianofortes with the best hammer action. Unfortunately none of Merlin's normal large-sized pianofortes has survived; only his compound instruments (two harpsichord-pianos and a claviorganum of 1784), an upright piano (today in Brussels), and a square piano (in the Colt Clavier Collection) are preserved. The oldest extant harpsichord-piano dates from 1779 and is today in Boston (Museum of Fine Arts)." Eva Badura-Skoda: The Eighteenth-Century Fortepiano Grand and its Patrons, p. 430.
Fischer's first performance in London, on 2 June 1768, is historically important as, on that occasion, J.C. Bach performed publicly for the first time on the newly-invented piano.
Paul Musin (1944-1999) was a noted 20th century French artist.
Item #41467
Price: $400.00 other currencies