Midsummer Bouquet

Details

Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944)
Midsummer Bouquet
signed and inscribed 'Florine/To/Fania' (on the blue petals)
mixed media on paper
15 1/8 x 19 ¾ in. (38.4 x 50.2 cm.)
Executed circa 1920.

Provenance

The artist.
Fania Marinoff, gift from the above.
Carl Van Vechten, husband of the above.
Mark Lutz, gift from the above.
William Jepson, by bequest from the above.
Dr. George P. Glauner, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, by bequest from the above.
Sotheby's, New York, 27 January 1984, lot 538.
Spanierman Gallery, LLC, New York, by 1988.
(Probably) Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Exhibited

New York, Spanierman Gallery, LLC, American Works on Paper II, Autumn 1988, no. 65, illustrated.

Lot Essay

Curator of the 2017 Jewish Museum retrospective, Stephen Brown writes, "Stettheimer painted many floral bouquets, sometimes to memorialize a particular date, including her own birthday. These still-lifes utilize a range of devices to convey meaning, including the symbolic 'language' of flowers. The formal treatment of this painting, in particular its color relationships, is suggestive of an unrestrained, carefree joy." (unpublished letter, dated 6 October 2017)

The present work is inscribed to Fania Marinoff, a Russian-born actress of Broadway and silent film who was married to the influential theater critic Carl Van Vechten. The couple were close friends of the Stettheimer sisters and their circle. A portrait by Florine Stettheimer of Van Vechten is in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut.

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