Melange im Hawelka
Café Hawelka in Vienna - an institution and cultural centre for all creative minds and intellectuals. Franco Thamér was also a daily guest here for quite some time and, above all, someone people were delighted to see, because the elderly Josefine Hawelka had taken the young painter to her heart. Since he was earning his money as a model at the time, he always kept an eye on his figure. However, the care and affection provided by the Café owner would tolerate no contradiction - at her behest, his white coffee was often deliberately and - sometimes secretly - refined with an additional dose of hot chocolate: ‘to ensure he would finally get a bit more flesh on his ribs’. He did this painting as a sign of gratitude and great reverence to the kind-hearted Josefine Hawelka.