Nähende Mädchen in Huyzen

Details

Max Liebermann (1847-1935)
Nähende Mädchen in Huyzen
oil on board
30 x 23 1/4 in. (76 x 59.2 cm.)
Painted in 1898

Provenance

Ernst Keller, by whom probably acquired directly from the artist, by 1950.
Martha Keller, until 1958.
Dorit Neumann, United States, by descent from the above by 1978.
Private collection, Switzerland.
Anonymous sale, Eberhart, Zurich, 6 June 1985, lot 116.
Galerie Geiger, Zurich, by 1992.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1994.

Literature

M. Eberle, Max Liebermann 1847-1935, Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Ölstudien, vol. I, 1865-1899, Munich, 1995, no. 1889/8, p. 344 (illustrated p. 343).
H. Kohle, 'Geschichte der bildenden Kunst', in Deutschland, Vom Biedermeier zum Impressionismus, Munich, 2008, p. 8 (illustrated).
J. Hülsewig-Johnen & T. Kellein, Der deutsche Impressionismus, Cologne, 2009, p. 223 (illustrated).

Exhibited

Cannes, La Malmaison, Liebermann, January - April 1996, p. 25 (illustrated).
Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Cranach-Stiftung, Liebermann, June - August 1996, p. 25 (illustrated).
Berlin, Alte Nationalgalerie, Max Liebermann, Jahrhundertwende, July - October 1997, no. 17, p. 118 (illustrated).
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Max Liebermann, Der Realist und die Phantasie, November 1997 - January 1998, no. 68, p. 265 (illustrated p. 146); this exhibition later travelled to Frankfurt am Main, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, February - April, and Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste, April - June 1998.
Opel-Villen Rüsselsheim, Kunstverein Rüsselsheim, Max Liebermann, Stationen eines Malerlebens, June - September 1999, p. 35 (illustrated).
New York, The Jewish Museum, Berlin Metropolis, Jews and the New Culture, 1890-1918, November 1999 - April 2000.
Dessau, Orangerie des Georgiums, Max Liebermann, September - October 2000, p. 23 (illustrated).
Schloss Wernigerode, Zentrum für Kunst und Kulturergeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts, Licht, Phantasie und Charakter, Max Liebermann, April - July 2001, p. 43 (illustrated p. 21).
Berlin, Max Liebermann Haus, Im Streit um die Moderne: Max Liebermann, Der Kaiser, Die Nationalgalerie, October 2001 - January 2002, p. 58 (illustrated).
Rendsburg, Jüdisches Museum Rendsburg, Max Liebermann 1847-1935: 'Ich bin doch nur ein Maler', November 2002 - February 2003, no. 23, p. 46.
Würth, Kunsthalle, Max Liebermann, Poesie des einfachen Lebens, September 2003 - February 2004, pp. 86 & 214 (illustrated p. 16); this exhibition later travelled to Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, March - May 2004.
Berlin, Kunstsalon Berliner Secession (Dr. Jörg Thiede Stiftung), Eröffnungsausstellung im Kunstsalon Berliner Secession, 2006.
Hanover, Niedersächsischen Landesmuseum, Max Liebermann und die Holländer, October 2006 - February 2007; this exhibition later travelled to Assen, Drents Museum, March - June 2007.
Jeonbuk, South Korea, Jeonbuk Museum of Art, The Era of Passion, Picasso to Chun Kyung Ja, October 2014 - February 2015, pp. 138-139 (illustrated p. 93).

Brought to you by

Ishbel Gray

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Lot Essay

Executed in the summer of 1898 Nähende Mädchen in Huyzen is part of a series of studies that Liebermann painted of these four girls. This sketch-like painting is a cropped version of a larger composition, with the viewpoint taken from the right making the four girls the focus point of the picture. In this painting the girls are sitting more compactly together than in Liebermann’s other studies from this series. Nähende Mädchen in Huyzen is an early example of Liebermann’s expressive brushwork and vigorous painterly manner, which would come to characterize the artist’s later works.

Max Liebermann first gained recognition in the 1880s and 1890s with his naturalist paintings of common workers. In his early works Liebermann was influenced by the Realism of Gustave Courbet and Jean-Franois Millet, and this is exemplified in Nähende Mädchen in Huyzen, where Liebermann depicts the reality of these working girls without idealising it.

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