- 41
Frederick C. Frieseke 1874-1939
Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Frederick C. Frieseke
- The Gold Locket
- signed F.C. Frieseke, l.l.; also titled The Gold Locket on the reverse
- oil on board
- 29 1/2 by 29 1/2 in.
- (74.9 by 74.9 cm)
- Painted circa 1917-19.
Provenance
William Macbeth Gallery, New York
Cincinnati Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio (sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, October 18, 1945, lot 87)
Grand Central Art Galleries, New York (acquired at the above sale)
IBM International Foundation (acquired from the above; sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 25, 1995, lot 29, illustrated in color)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale
Cincinnati Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio (sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, October 18, 1945, lot 87)
Grand Central Art Galleries, New York (acquired at the above sale)
IBM International Foundation (acquired from the above; sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 25, 1995, lot 29, illustrated in color)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale
Exhibited
New York, Grand Central Art Galleries, Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Frederick C. Frieseke, N.A., March-April 1939, no. 7
New York, IBM Gallery (and traveling), American Painting: 1900-1950, January 1969-June 1972
New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, Selected Works from the IBM Collection, November 1985-January 1986
New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, Portraits of the IBM Collection, March-June 1994
New York, IBM Gallery (and traveling), American Painting: 1900-1950, January 1969-June 1972
New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, Selected Works from the IBM Collection, November 1985-January 1986
New York, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, Portraits of the IBM Collection, March-June 1994
Catalogue Note
According to Nicholas Kilmer, "In March of 1919 Frieseke consigned a group of paintings to William Macbeth, his dealer, in Paris, for transport to New York. Many of these paintings developed the image with which he would come to be more and more identified during the next decade--that of the model in her boudoir, absorbed in a gesture both practical and habitual--whether combing her hair or, as here, adjusting her jewelry. The model for many of these paintings was Louise, a native of Giverny, who is also the subject of Frieseke's Peace (Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.), perhaps the best-known of this group of post-war boudoir pieces."
"The Gold Locket was purchased for the Cincinnati Museum through the annual membership fund, in 1921, in connection to his one-painter exhibition there in March of that year. At the time of its acquisition The Cincinnati Enquirer's art critic wrote, "A great deal of enthusiasm has been shown over the painting The Gold Locket...Frieseke has many friends in Cincinnati [who are] delighted that another of his canvases has found a permanent home in the city. It is a painting of a young woman...her face and head bathed in the reflections of her dress--the cold blue tone to which he is so partial. The whole picture is keyed to a brilliant, reflected light, the detail suggested more by spots of light and shade than by form' (A.E.C., The Cincinnati Enquirer, n.d. [1921]).
"The placement of the figure in the square canvas, set off and baffled by the backs of her dressing table's mirrors, was used rather frequently by Frieseke--and, indeed, by other among his contemporaries (for instance Richard Miller--cf. his The Red Necklace, location unknown). An example quite similar to The Gold Locket is Girl in Blue (circa 1919) in the collection of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. In The Gold Locket, however, the artist has set himself a remarkable problem, in that the model's head placed before the window is backlit, and exists in silhouette, at the same time as it is revealed by the light reflected at two different angles from the mirrors."
"The Gold Locket was purchased for the Cincinnati Museum through the annual membership fund, in 1921, in connection to his one-painter exhibition there in March of that year. At the time of its acquisition The Cincinnati Enquirer's art critic wrote, "A great deal of enthusiasm has been shown over the painting The Gold Locket...Frieseke has many friends in Cincinnati [who are] delighted that another of his canvases has found a permanent home in the city. It is a painting of a young woman...her face and head bathed in the reflections of her dress--the cold blue tone to which he is so partial. The whole picture is keyed to a brilliant, reflected light, the detail suggested more by spots of light and shade than by form' (A.E.C., The Cincinnati Enquirer, n.d. [1921]).
"The placement of the figure in the square canvas, set off and baffled by the backs of her dressing table's mirrors, was used rather frequently by Frieseke--and, indeed, by other among his contemporaries (for instance Richard Miller--cf. his The Red Necklace, location unknown). An example quite similar to The Gold Locket is Girl in Blue (circa 1919) in the collection of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta. In The Gold Locket, however, the artist has set himself a remarkable problem, in that the model's head placed before the window is backlit, and exists in silhouette, at the same time as it is revealed by the light reflected at two different angles from the mirrors."