Walter van Nus

In this painting Mahler's head was based on a picture made in october 1909 in Amsterdam , when Mahler was there to conduct his 7th symphony with the Concergebouworkest .Of the three known pictures , taken en profile by Alfred Roller , probably in the Concertgebouw , is the second one the starting-point ; Mahler , seen from the left , is sitting in front of an occasionally hung up piece of tapestry . His extremely high forehead and relatively short backhead are profoundly emphasised by this pose .

The Vaterjakob-theme of the thirt movement is performed by a band of coloured , geometric  fields , that runs along the bottom of the picture .

Also : Gilbert Kaplan : The Mahler Album , photo nr. 112 .