Lady at the spinett ca.1910

Original: full body portrait in side view, in sitting position at a spinet, hands on the keys. Head turned to the left, looking at the viewer. The sitter wears her hair up, with the side braids tied up into scrolls. She wears a blue dress with golden stripes, the sleeves of which are swung out wide in the shape of a bell, and a white lace blouse underneath. Chair in white-gold, spinet made of brown wood, on the music stand sheet music. Background: gray wall with a tapestry curtain, on the wall a picture is partially visible.

JQAW# P_1910_040
Oil on canvas 200 x 160 cm (original), now: 112 x 100 cm
Signature: J Q Ɑdams (by other hand)
Private collection USA
Color image: Auktionhaus Neumeister, Germany.

This painting, which was reduced in size likely during a later restoration, is documented in its original state by a studio photograph (see cross-references), which was also used here to reconstruct the original state of the painting as a full-length portrait. (The artist's painting box visible in the left foreground of the picture was not retouched). The signature has been copied again in another place after the reduction by another hand, but by the use of the initials J Q it points to a work from before the First World War. The studio photo allows a further delimitation of the date of creation: The equally shown finished painting (already under glass) The Operation, was created in 1909, and the interior shows the studio at Theresianumgasse 5, which Adams shared with the painter Arthur von Ferraris (1856 Golgowicz to 1946 Felsösegesd) between 1909 and 1914 (thereafter until 1932 studio in the house Theresianumgasse 11). For this catalog, the lady at the spinet is dated ca. 1910. The person depicted is unknown, as is unfortunately often the case with works that have been offered several times in a row in the art trade and auction houses, where any information about the work has been lost.

Cross-references

Studio photo ca.1910 with the painting half completed.

Lady at the spinet in its actual state (reduced), Auktionhaus Neumeister, Deutschland.

Exhibited

Literature

Provenance

Unknown.
3.6., 23.10, and 18.12.2004 Badum Kunsthandel Bamberg Germany (unsold).
6.12.2017 Neumeister Munich Auction 378 Lot 339.
Private collection USA.