Reading (Beim Lesen)

1924

Karl Hofer

Associated Names
Karl Hofer

Artist, German, 1878 - 1955

The image shows a sketch of a person from the waist up, leaning forward with their elbows resting on a flat surface. The person's head is tilted slightly downwards and to the side, with closed eyes and relaxed facial features. They have short hair with bangs. They are wearing a loosely draped garment, suggested with simple lines. In front of the person, several pieces of paper are scattered on the surface. No jewelry or additional objects are visible. The background is plain with subtle lines and shading.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and drypoint

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Accession Number

    1951.10.315

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Rathenau 1969, Vol. E, no. 49


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

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

Q65360962

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