Josef Gisela (real name Reznicek) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from
1868 to 1874 under Carl Mayer and Karl von Blaas, and from 1874 to 1879 he studied
history painting under August Eisenmenger, Anselm Feuerbach, Eduard von Engerth,
Heinrich von Angeli and Mathias von Trenkwald. In 1872 he was awarded the Lampi Prize.
His friends and acquaintances included Anton Müller, Johann Hamza, Isidor Kaufmann
and Karl Zewy. From 1885, he regularly took part in the annual exhibitions of the artists'
co-operative at the Künstlerhaus and became a full member in 1888. He was represented
with his paintings at international art exhibitions, for example in Berlin in 1886 and 1887,
in Vienna in 1888, in Munich in 1888 and 1889 and at the World Exhibition in Chicago in
1893. His oil paintings were also purchased by Emperor Franz Joseph and Johann II.
Prince von und zu Liechtenstein. Gisela's favourite genre was the Viennese portrait of
manners, in which he depicted his time in his typical style - meticulously executed down
to the smallest detail - and enjoyed particular popularity. Rather small in size, his
paintings fetched relatively high prices early on. In 1902, his artistic estate was auctioned
off at the Dorotheum in Vienna.