Provenance

Michael Mayr [1796 - 1870] (Lugt 1804a), Eisenstadt; Miss Marianne Fajt [d. circa 1955] (Lugt 1804a).[1] Gaillard F. Ravenel and Frances P. Smyth-Ravenel, Washington D.C.; gift to NGA, 2000.
[1] Michael Mayr (1796-1870) was stage designer to the Princes Eszterhazy in Eisenstadt, Austria. Marianne Fajt (d. circa 1955) was his grand daughter. His collection was found intact in her possession in the early 1930s. Financial difficulties forced her to sell part of the collection, which was purchased by Sandor Wolf, the owner of a local private museum in Eisenstadt. Part of this collection may have been taken by the Nazis when Mr. Wolf left the country. This part may have been transferred into the collection at the Burglaendisches Landesmuseum in Eisenstadt and possibly returned to the family after Sandor Wolf's death in Tel-Aviv. Miss Fajt sold another large portion in 1939 to Janos Scholz, a collector in New York. This National Gallery drawing was not found to be among those purchased by Scholz. See the introduction to Mr. Scholz's book Baroque and Romantic Stage Design, New York 1950, pp. xi-xiii, for additional information. See also the description of Michael Mayr under Lugt 1804a.

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