Fräulein Engelhardt

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (1906 - 1996)

Hunterian Art Gallery

1927

Motesiczky was the most distinguished European artist to settle in the UK in the late 1930s, having been displaced by Nazism. Her instinctive interest in character provoked a vein of story-telling that went against the modernist trend in 20th century art and allied her with two great Expressionist painters, both friends and supporters, Max Beckmann and Oskar Kokoschka. Beckmann in particular encouraged her interest in allegory and symbols used by the old masters. This is a brilliant, early work, painted by the 20-year old artist in the graphically simplified style of her mentor, Max Beckmann, but with her distinctive subtlety of expression, colour, and emblematic attributes. This is the first Expressionist painting to enter the Hunterian collection.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 62.6 x 59.4cm
• Art Fund Grant: £10000 ( Total: £26,047)
• ArtFunded in: 2011
• Vendor: Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust through Galerie St Etienne, New York

Provenance

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

Add your comments about this artwork Hide this form

Have your say