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A portrait of a blonde woman in a white dress

In a painterly style with lots of visible brush strokes, a blonde woman stands in front of a background of deep greens, like plants. She stands in a stately, manner, with head held high and her hands holding the edge of a wide brimmed hat in front of her. Her hair is up, and her face is flushed, with red at her ears, cheeks, and lips. She wears a white dress with a high neck and slightly puffed sleeves that is belted at her waist and gathers at her wrists.

Gallery Text

The thick, choppy brushwork of the impressionists was taken to its extreme by the German Wilhelm Trübner. As a young artist, he was exposed to the work of avant-garde French painters, such as Manet. Although Trübner’s bright, acidic colors are very different from Manet’s, the direct frontal stance of Maria Wüsthoff recalls Manet’s Skating (on display in Gallery 1220 on Level 1).

This sitter is thought to be one of Trübner’s students at the Städel art institute in Frankfurt, and when the portrait was exhibited at the seventh Berlin Secession in 1903, it garnered critical praise. Trübner was involved in several artist-organized exhibiting societies aside from the Secession. The first was the circle gathered around the charismatic painter Wilhelm Leibl, who often took the group on sketching trips into the countryside. Trübner was moved by the group’s commitment to depicting landscape, and we see that interest retained here in the lush greenery behind Maria Wüsthoff.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1990.82
People
Wilhelm Trübner, German (Heidelberg, Germany 1851 - 1917 Karlsruhe, Germany)
Title
Portrait of Fräulein Maria Wüsthoff
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Dame in Weiss; Porträit des Fräulein W.
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1901
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/221391

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2700, European and American Art, 19th century, Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
111 x 73.9 cm (43 11/16 x 29 1/8 in.)
framed: 125.5 x 89 cm (49 7/16 x 35 1/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: in oil at u.r.: Trübner
  • inscription: u.r., oil paint, signed, in artist's hand: Trübner

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Richard Norton Memorial Fund and purchase through the generosity of the Rudolf Siedersleben'sche Otto Wolff Foundation and Melvin R. Seiden
Accession Year
1990
Object Number
1990.82
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Emil Heilbut, Die Ausstellung der Berliner Secession, Kunst und Künstler, Bruno Cassirer (Berlin, 1903-1904), pp. 297-311, p.298
  • E. Wieland, Erste Ausstellung des Deutschen Künstlerbundes in der Münchener Sezession, Die Kunst für Alle (August 1, 1904), vol. 21, p. 497
  • Georg Fuchs, Wilhelm Trübner und Sein Werk, Georg Müller (Munich, 1908), no. 101, repr.
  • J.A. Beringer, Trübner: des Meisters Gemälde in 450 abbildungen, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (Stuttgart, 1917), pp. 259, 392, repr. p. 259
  • J.A. Beringer, Trübner: Eine Auswahl aus dem Lebenswerk des Meisters in 1010 abbildungen, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (Stuttgart, 1921), p. 75, repr.
  • Wilhelm Trübner und sein Kreis, exh. cat., Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe, 1951), p. 24, no. 100
  • Peter Nisbet and Emilie Norris, Busch-Reisinger Museum: History and Holdings, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1991), p. 71, ill
  • Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007), p. 190

Exhibition History

  • 19th- and 20th-Century Paintings and Sculpture from the Museum's Collection, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 06/11/1980 - 08/31/1980
  • 19th-Century Drawings from the Permanent Collection, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 09/01/1983 - 10/09/1983
  • German Painting 1760-1960: A New Installation, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Cambridge, 12/20/1983 - 02/19/1984
  • Before Expressionism: Art in Germany circa 1903, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/24/2003 - 02/15/2004
  • 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/13/2016 - 03/22/2018; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/11/2018 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu