Pictures of
Gustav Mahler

Austrian composer
(1860-1911)



Share this page:

Mahler was greatly influenced by the Romantic tradition but his music also had radical modern 20th century elements. He is noted for his symphonies and for several songs and song cycles mostly with orchestral accompaniment. Notable examples of Mahler music include the song cycles, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer); Kindentotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children); and Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth).




Gustav Mahler, 1909.

This photo (showing 3/4 portrait of Mahler facing to the left) was taken by either Aimé Dupont's (1842-1900) wife, Madame Etta Greer, or their son Albert Dupont. A photoprint copy of this photo is held by the Library of Congress, Washington DC, United State and has been marked as copyrighted by the studio, A. Dupont, N.Y., on 16 March 1909.




A silhouette of the conductor Gustav Mahler by Hans Schliessmann (1842-1920).

Source: Hans Schließmann, Dirigenten von Gestern und Heute / Conductors of Yesterday and Today / Chefs d'orchestre d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Zeichnungen von Hans Schließmann, Vienna, Austria: Gerlach & Wiedling, 1928. This silhouette is a public domain image, having been created before 1920.




A drawing of Gustav Mahler as a conductor.

Source: Same as previous image on this page, that is: Hans Schließmann (Schliessmann), Dirigenten von Gestern und Heute / Conductors of Yesterday and Today / Chefs d'orchestre d'hier et d'aujourd'hui. Zeichnungen von Hans Schließmann, Vienna, Austria: Gerlach & Wiedling, 1928. This drawing is a public domain image, having been created before 1920.







A caricature of Mahler by German artist, Oscar Garvens (1874-1951).




A satirical cartoon on Gustav Mahler and his Sixth Symphony which had just had its first Vienna performance on 4 January 1907.

The cartoon humorously depicts Mahler with a variety of percussion musical instruments and everyday objects which could be used as percussion instruments (the former including a drum and a bell, and the latter including a cow bells, a whisk, collar with tiny bells, a heavy mallet and a motor horn). In his Sixth Symphony Mahler had in fact used a variety of percussion musical instruments and everyday objects used as percussion instruments, as follows: 6 timpani, a bass drum and rute, cymbals, a tam-tam (tom tom), a triangle, a glockenspiel, a xylophone, 2 deep bells and a set of cowbells.

The cartoon's heading reads "Tragische Sinfonie" (Tragic Symphony). This is a reference to the program for the Vienna premiere of the 6th Symphony which had referred to "Sechste Sinfonie (Tragische)" [Sixth Symphony (Tragic)].

The cartoon's caption reads: "Herr Gott! Daß ich die Huppe vergessen habe! Jetzt kann ich noch eine Sinfonie schreiben." (My God, I've forgotten the motor-horn! Now I shall have to write another symphony).

Th cartoon was published in the Austrian/German magazine, Die Muskete (The Musket), on 10 January 1907. The cartoonist was Fritz Schönpflug (1873-1951).







Gustav Mahler's signature. (Reproduced from a manuscript, circa 1900.)




Gustav Mahler is shown on this postage stamp issued by Austria in 1960.




Mahler as depicted on this postage stamp that was issued by Monaco in 2009 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Mahler's birth.




Mahler's music -- the "Adagietto" from his Fifth Symphony and sections from his Third Symphony -- was featured in the Luchino Visconti's 1971 film, Death in Venice (based on Thomas Mann's 1912 novella of the same name). The aforementioned "Adagietto" opens and closes the film.

This poster is available from Amazon.


Share this page:



Author: David Paul Wagner
(David Paul Wagner on Google+)


Note: This picture gallery page includes drawings, paintings, photos and images of Gustav Mahler, his music, activities, friends and family, and the various places where the composer lived and wrote.