Bust of the Playwright Julius Bauer

A major sculptor of late-nineteenth-century Vienna, Victor Oskar Tilgner carved approximately one hundred busts portraying prominent members of Viennese society. The construction of the majestic Ringstrasse, or ring road, starting in 1858 called for many new monuments and architectural decorations, giving rise to an imposing style of painting and sculpture. Among Tilgner’s contributions to this ambitious urban project was a Mozart monument for the gardens along the Ringstrasse—his last work, which he did not live to see unveiled. Poets, actresses, and composers figured prominently in his roster of portrait subjects, perhaps because he excelled at conveying the vivacity of these artistic personalities. Tilgner’s subject here is the playwright Julius Bauer (1853–1941), a librettist for Viennese operetta composers including Franz Lehar.