- 614
The Reading Artist
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- The Reading Artist
- KATHARINE KINTZEL, JOSEPH KINTZEL, and MARY ANN KINTZEL
- Watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper, in original grain-painted pasteboard frame with modern wood outer frame and glazing
- 14 1/16 by 11 7/8 in. (Mrs. Kintzel and Mr. Kintzel) and 14 1/4 by 11 15/16 in. (Mary Ann) (framed)
- C. 1857
Mrs. Kintzel: inscribed recto, ink: Katharine Kintzel
Mr. Kintzel: inscribed recto, bottom margin, ink: Joseph Kintzel; on newspaper: Redinger Adler; verso of pasteboard backing, pencil: Joseph Kintzel/[?] 54/1857
Mary Ann: inscribed recto, ink: Mary Ann Kintzel
Mr. Kintzel: inscribed recto, bottom margin, ink: Joseph Kintzel; on newspaper: Redinger Adler; verso of pasteboard backing, pencil: Joseph Kintzel/[?] 54/1857
Mary Ann: inscribed recto, ink: Mary Ann Kintzel
Provenance
Bessie and William Keible, Pennsylvania
Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Cambridge, Maryland
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, “The Garbisch Collection, Volume III," April 27-29, 1978, lots 488-490
Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Cambridge, Maryland
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, “The Garbisch Collection, Volume III," April 27-29, 1978, lots 488-490
Literature
Spinney, Frank O., "Portrait Gallery of Provincial America," Art in America (May 1954): 105 (Mrs. Kintzel and Mr. Kintzel only)
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 66, figs. 36A-C
American Radiance: The Ralph Esmerian Gift to the American Folk Art Museum, p. 66, figs. 36A-C
Condition
Overall condition very good.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
The portraits of Joseph and Katharine Kintzel represent, for the most part, the Reading Artist's standard compositional devices; the obvious personalizing prop in Joseph's likeness is the open newspaper, the Redinger Adler (Reading Eagle). It has not been determined if this newspaper had particular significance in the subject's life. The portrait of Mary Ann Kintzel represents a somewhat more individualized composition, with stone architecture and a rare prop, a child's squeak toy. The detailed nature of the stone home and the capped stone wall in Sahra Ream's portrait would lead one to believe that it is the artist's effort to capture a real, rather than formulaic, setting. The stippled technique employed to describe foliage is reminiscent of the methods of Jacob Maentel, another artist working in Berks County at the same time. -D.R.W.