Leo Putz

Cara Sophia Köhler née Goldammer; thence by descent to the present owner, the granddaughter of the sitter

Munich, Glaspalast, 1911
Düsseldorf, Kunstpalast, 1951

Helmut Putz, Leo Putz - Werksverzeichnis in zwei Bänden, Gauting, 1994, vol. II, p. 840, no. 1853, catalogued & illustrated

This condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, Hamish Dewar Ltd. Fine Art Conservation, 14 Masons Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BU. Structural Condition The canvas is unlined on what would certainly appear to be the original keyed wooden stretcher. There are three small patches on the reverse of the canvas, one of which is in the upper right quadrant and the other two in the lower left quadrant, as viewed from the reverse. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows scattered retouchings, the most significant of which are: 1) an area measuring approximately 5 x 2 cm in the upper left quadrant, within the white curtains, 2) an area measuring approximately 2 x 1 cm in the lower right corner, within the yellow carpet, and 3) an area measuring approximately 2 x 3 cm in the lower right quadrant within the rug. These three areas correspond to the patches visible on the reverse of the canvas. Other small scattered retouchings are also visible under ultra-violet light within the background and the sitters dress. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
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Cara Sophia Köhler, née von Goldammer (1879-1920), was born in Neuruppin, a former Prussian garrison town, into an aristocratic Prussian family. Her father was Bernard Theodor von Goldammer (1847-1906). Goldammer was predominantly remembered for being instrumental in the regulation of hunting in the Sachsenwald, a forest near Hamburg, and was affectionally known  as the 'father of the red deer' of the Sachsenwald.  By special permission from his friend Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany, Goldammer was  buried in the middle of the Sachsenwald amongst his deer.

Cara Sophia Köhler married Heinrich Georg Apolonius Köhler and lived in several areas in Bavaria (Schliersee, Gautingen) and Cologne.  She died following the birth of her second child in 1920. A muse of Putz's, she featured in three other known works by the artist, most notably another large-scale portrait in an interior, Cara Köhler with Parrot (see Helmut Putz, Leo Putz - Werksverzeichnis in zwei Bänden, vol. II, p. 840, no. 1854, catalogued & illustrated).

Putz was born in Meran (modern day Merano in Italy), then part of Austria-Hungary, but as a boy he moved with his family to Munich. He studied at the Munich Academy, and from 1891-92 at the Academie Julian in Paris under William Bouguereau and Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. Despite his academic training, Putz was far more interested in the avant-garde subjects and impressionistic forms of expression being pioneered by his contemporaries, particularly Manet, Gauguin and Renoir, which would inform his own work.

On his return to Munich, Putz exhibited at the Munich Secession in 1895 alongside Franz von Stuck, and with Franz Erler formed the avant garde artistic group Die Scholle. He went on to become a Secessionist in Berlin and Vienna, where Gustav Klimt's figural painting had a profound influence on his work. Putz's individualistic style in turn inspired the succeeding generation of German impressionists, including Lovis Corinth and Edward Cucuel.