Jacob Schikaneder - Murder in the house (1890)

[SirJohnFalstaff]

I can't help thinking this painting was influenced by the Ripper murders. Looking at it, it's as if Elizabeth Stride was killed in Miller's Court.

On the wiki page, it says the artist, after losing much of his work in a fire in 1881, traveled through Europe for the next decade.

Not saying it's something to follow through, but I thought it was an interesting coincidence.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Jakub_Schikaneder_-_Murder_in_the_House.JPG

[Pcdunn]

He's definitely a member of the new school of realism in art. The body language and expressions of the onlookers are both dramatic and natural.
Does the man pointing at the dead woman have blood on his hand? I think he's justifying the murder he has just committed.

[Ozzy]

Research has identified the place that inspired Murder in the House as the opening of the dead-end Sitalska street which lead in part to the ghetto of the artist’s home city, Prague.

From -

https://kweiseye.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/jakub-schikaneder-1855-1924

Does make me wonder if it's based on a real murder.

edit

Found the following on reddit

Schikaneder probably began to work on his painting Murder in the House in 1889, his fifth year as a teacher at the School of Decorative Arts in Prague. For the artist, Murder in the House undoubtedly represented another attempt to win recognition beyond the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; hence, the canvas’ monumental size (203 x 321 cm).

Schikaneder presented his work in 1890 at the international exhibition in Berlin, Germany.

The painting was a sensation in Prague one year later at the Jubilee Exhibition’s Czech art display. Reportedly, however, the crowds of visitors mostly wondered if the painting depicted the young girl’s murder or suicide.

Recent research identified the specific place that inspired Schikaneder. The dark courtyard was actually the opening of the dead-end Špitálská street leading from Rabínská street in the Jewish Town. Schikaneder was very familiar with the Prague Ghetto before its clearance, as he had lived in house No. 186 at the corner of Dušní and Masařská streets in Josefov at the ghetto’s periphery since 1872. In the late 19th century, the Jewish Ghetto was a social ghetto, too, where the poorest of Prague’s inhabitants lived. In this context, Schikaneder’s painting can be seen as social criticism.

In Schikaneder’s oeuvre, Murder in the House closes a continuous series of artworks with the theme of the tragic fate of women. In Czech art of the last third of the 19th century, it represents a rare attempt to express both realist and naturalist tendencies in painting.

There is a source link for the above but I get a 404 page.

https://www.reddit.com/r/museum/comments/1b7bjr/jakub_schikaneder_murder_in_the_house_1890

Thanks SirJohnFalstaff. Always good to see some fine art I haven't seen before.

[Harry D]

Does the man pointing at the dead woman have blood on his hand? I think he's justifying the murder he has just committed.

Not that I can see.

[Pcdunn]

Not that I can see.

I suppose it could just be a shadow. Perhaps he's only the finder of the body...

[SirJohnFalstaff]

Research has identified the place that inspired Murder in the House as the opening of the dead-end Sitalska street which lead in part to the ghetto of the artist’s home city, Prague.

From -

https://kweiseye.wordpress.com/2015/08/20/jakub-schikaneder-1855-1924

Does make me wonder if it's based on a real murder.

edit

Found the following on reddit

Schikaneder probably began to work on his painting Murder in the House in 1889, his fifth year as a teacher at the School of Decorative Arts in Prague. For the artist, Murder in the House undoubtedly represented another attempt to win recognition beyond the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; hence, the canvas’ monumental size (203 x 321 cm).

Schikaneder presented his work in 1890 at the international exhibition in Berlin, Germany.

The painting was a sensation in Prague one year later at the Jubilee Exhibition’s Czech art display. Reportedly, however, the crowds of visitors mostly wondered if the painting depicted the young girl’s murder or suicide.

Recent research identified the specific place that inspired Schikaneder. The dark courtyard was actually the opening of the dead-end Špitálská street leading from Rabínská street in the Jewish Town. Schikaneder was very familiar with the Prague Ghetto before its clearance, as he had lived in house No. 186 at the corner of Dušní and Masařská streets in Josefov at the ghetto’s periphery since 1872. In the late 19th century, the Jewish Ghetto was a social ghetto, too, where the poorest of Prague’s inhabitants lived. In this context, Schikaneder’s painting can be seen as social criticism.

In Schikaneder’s oeuvre, Murder in the House closes a continuous series of artworks with the theme of the tragic fate of women. In Czech art of the last third of the 19th century, it represents a rare attempt to express both realist and naturalist tendencies in painting.

There is a source link for the above but I get a 404 page.

https://www.reddit.com/r/museum/comments/1b7bjr/jakub_schikaneder_murder_in_the_house_1890

Thanks SirJohnFalstaff. Always good to see some fine art I haven't seen before.

Thanks a bunch for the research!