Girl with Fruit Basket (Madchen mit Fruchtekorb)

c. 1923

Karl Hofer

Associated Names
Karl Hofer

Artist, German, 1878 - 1955

The image shows a black and white sketch of two figures. The figures are half-body visible and positioned closely together. The person in the foreground is leaning forward, resting their head on their arm, with the arm resting on the surface in front of them. This figure has a contemplative facial expression, depicted with a subtle, downward gaze. Both individuals have their heads wrapped in simple coverings. The second person stands behind the first, slightly leaning forward, looking over the seated figure's shoulder. Both are dressed in simple garments, possibly tunics. The seated individual is holding a woven basket in their hand, which is placed on the table. The background is plain, with a minimal triangular shape suggesting a backdrop or wall.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1951.10.313

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Rathenau 1969, Vol. L, no. 22

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.

Bibliography

1969

  • Rathenau, Ernest. Karl Hofer; das graphische Werk. New York: Ernest Rathenau, 1969.

Markings

Verso, stamped in black ink: COMISION NACIONAL DE MUSEOS / Y MONUMENTOS HISTORICOS / JOSE LUIS BUSANICHE / SECRETARIO GENERALE

Wikidata ID

Q65360956

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