Woman and Child

1920

Max Pechstein

Associated Names
Max Pechstein

Artist, German, 1881 - 1955

The image depicts the upper half of a woman and the full body of a child, both seated. The woman is positioned with her body angled slightly away from the viewer, her head turned in profile. Her hair is pulled back in a bun, and her facial features are angular with a pronounced profile. She is wearing a simple dress, hinted at by minimal lines and shading. Her left arm is drawn up, resting near the child, with her hand visible. The child, who is completely nude, sits with legs pulled up, knees bent, facing the same direction as the woman, and is also shown in profile view. His hair is short and the same angular lines hint at his facial features. The background is sketch-like with broad strokes of blue suggesting sky or abstract scenery, and there is a soft wash of earthy hues on the figures enhancing the minimalist style.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    graphite and watercolor

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 36.9 x 27.1 cm (14 1/2 x 10 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1951.10.380

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Claude Schaefer [1913-2010], Montevideo, Uruguay; sold 1950 to Lessing J. Rosenwald; [1] gift 1950/1951 to the National Gallery of Art.

[1] In Recollections of a Collector, 1976, p. 56-57, Rosenwald described being approached by a young man in South America who offered to sell his father’s collection of prints that he had brought with him from Germany. Rosenwald gives the year as 1951, but his appointment books confirm that it was actually 1950 - he left for Buenos Aires on 9 February 1950 and returned on 20 March 1950 (Library of Congress, Rosenwald Papers, Box 75). Rosenwald writes that he bought the entire collection of some 1100 prints and drawings, but as they had already been scheduled to be sent to Europe they came to the United States via Antwerp, arriving in the US in late April 1950. Rosenwald decided to keep about a quarter of the collection, destined for the National Gallery of Art, and donate the remainder to other institutions. The inventory log of Alverthorpe indicates that just over 300 works were accessioned there in May of 1950, inventory numbers 50.260-50.530, acquired from Claude Schaefer (Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, RG 45A1, Rosenwald Papers, Box 41).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • German Expressionist Prints and Drawings, American University, Washington, D.C., 1954.

1967

  • Mother and Child, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Canada, 1967, no. 117.

Inscriptions

lower right in graphite: HMP 1920; lower right verso stamped: JOSE LUIS BUSANICHE / SECRETARIO GENERAL / COMISION NACIONAL DE MUSEOS Y MONUMENTOS HISTORICOS

Wikidata ID

Q64614170

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