Provenance

Walter M. Feilchenfeldt

Feilchenfeldt
Marianne Feilchenfeldt
Mrs. Walter Feilchenfeldt
Private Collector
Walter Feilchenfeldt Kunsthandel

Explore selected works

See all 34 works of art
A young woman and older man accompanied by two winged angels kneel to gaze at a tiny infant lying on an overturned basket in this vertical painting. They and the five men standing or kneeling to each side all have pale skin. The woman, Mary, is on our left and leans forward with her hands stretched out toward the infant. Her long, honey-blond hair is covered with a pleated white cloth, and she wears a marine-blue gown over a garment with garnet-red sleeves. The older man, Joseph, kneels opposite her. He has a gray beard and hair and wears a charcoal-gray cloak over a scarlet-red robe. The nude infant, Jesus, lies on the basket between them next to a bundle of wheat. The angels are about half the size of Mary and Joseph and kneel just beyond Jesus. They both have blond hair and wings striped in shades of carnation pink, canary yellow, and celestial blue. The angel on our left wears an olive-green robe, and the other wears a white robe shaded with arctic blue. Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the angels gather on a worn, tiled stone floor outside the ruins of a building with an exposed interior. Ornamented bronze and rose-pink panels are set into pillars and over openings. Ivy grows along the upper edges of the partially ruined walls, and small tree branches sprout on the roof. An owl and another bird perch on the remains of a wood roof tucked behind the first structure. An ox and a donkey are tucked into a back corner of the building below. Three men dressed in burgundy and black enter the ruins from the left. One wears a soft black hat and holds a musical instrument to his lips. Two more men kneel beyond Joseph on the right, and one wears pea green with a rose-pink cape. The background beyond the building and people is filled with a green and blue landscape scattered with buildings and tiny people walking and dancing around a fire.
Adriaen Isenbrant, The Adoration of the Shepherds, probably 1520/1540, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1978.46.1

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Adriaen Isenbrant · probably 1520/1540 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1978.46.1
A row of structures and a massive weeping willow tree line the clay-orange riverbank opposite us in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with long, visible brushstrokes. Taking up much of the right side of the painting, the tree has emerald, moss, fern, and olive-green leaves with brown and purple trunk and roots. It casts long, gently rippling reflections in the water. The structures to our left are enclosed behind a terracotta-colored wall with a square tower. A second segment of wall, to our left, is charcoal gray. Trees grow up behind the structures. The sky above is painted with mingled strokes of lavender purple, baby blue, and white.
Paul Cezanne, Banks of the Seine at Médan, c. 1885/1890, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.21

Banks of the Seine at Médan

Paul Cezanne · c. 1885/1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.21
Facing away from us, a young woman with pale skin, wearing a golden yellow gown, leans her head down toward the lute she holds nearly upright in her lap in this horizontal painting. She sits near the right edge of the painting so her body faces the table beyond her, to our left. Her body is angled away from us but she turns her head so we see her in profile, facing our left. She tips her head to put her ear next to the lute, and she looks down and off to our left with brown eyes under thin, slightly arched brows. She has a straight nose, smooth, flushed cheeks, and her coral-pink lips are closed. Her dark blond hair is parted down the middle and pulled back under long braids looped around the back and over the top of her head. Light reflects off her hair and off the short, loose strands near the ear we can see. Her long yellow dress has a full skirt. The stiff bodice is laced up the sides and hooks over the shoulders, over a voluminous, bright white blouse. The sleeve we can see is pushed up over her forearm. Her seat is draped in crimson-red, velvety fabric. She holds the neck of the lute up high with her left hand, her fingers pressing the strings, so she brings the rounded body of the instrument up to her ear. In front of her, the table is draped with fringed, olive-green fabric. A violin made with blond wood lies on the table with the neck stretching toward us. There is also the violin bow and at least three wooden recorders on the table. One book of music is open so the pages fall over the edge of the table, near the woman. One other book of music at the back of the table is held open with a recorder. The feet of the table and the ankles of the woman are cut off by the bottom edge of the painting. The background is dark, earth brown except for a diagonal shaft of light across the top left corner of the composition, presumably from a high window in the wall out of our view.
Orazio Gentileschi, The Lute Player, c. 1612/1620, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1962.8.1

The Lute Player

Orazio Gentileschi · c. 1612/1620 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1962.8.1
Posters fill a billboard-like wall that stretches across most of the horizontal composition in this loosely painted scene. Two red-and-white striped tents with rounded tops are in the lower left quadrant of the composition. One person, perhaps a woman wearing a hat and a white dress, stands in blue shadow near one of the tents, and four others stroll across the golden-tan walkway to the right. One pedestrian wears a white dress and carries a white parasol. A man and woman wear russet brown, and the person next to the woman in white wears black. The posters are painted in tones of canary yellow, lapis blue, and red with a few touches of cool green and white. The posters, tents, and the people’s bodies are outlined in cobalt blue. Two rooflines to the left and some vertical strokes in turquoise green, light pink, and pale yellow suggest buildings stretching into the distance. A banner flies from the top of the wall in the upper right corner of the painting against a vivid blue sky in the top third of the composition. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, and glimpses of raw canvas are light brown at the edges. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner in blue, “Marquet.”
Albert Marquet, Posters at Trouville, 1906, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Whitney, 1998.74.1

Posters at Trouville

Albert Marquet · 1906 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1998.74.1
A woman wearing a long, royal-blue dress is surrounded by nine winged angels as she floats on a thin, bright white, downward-pointing crescent moon above a deep landscape with a town tucked into rolling hills in this vertical painting. The woman, Mary, and all the angels have pale, peachy skin and long, brown hair. Mary and the angels float against a pale yellow and pale peach field of light enclosed within a mass of steel-gray clouds. She presses her fingertips together in front of her chest and gazes down and to our right, her dark eyes almost closed. She has a delicate, straight nose, and her small mouth is closed. Her brown hair parts in the middle and flows down over her shoulders. The angels wear flowing gowns in sky or topaz blue, olive green, tangerine orange, white, or light pink, each with matching wings. Three angels place a gold crown on Mary's head. Four others hold up the edges of a silvery white cape, which is fastened across her shoulders with brooches of white pearls surrounding ruby-red stones. The final two angels hold up the downward-facing points of the crescent moon beneath her. In the landscape below, groupings of trees are dotted among the rolling hills, with a village in the distance to our left. The blue, hazy horizon comes about a sixth of the way up the composition. A brown boulder sits in the bottom left corner, closer to us. The paint is visibly cracked throughout.
Michel Sittow, The Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1500, oil on panel, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1965.1.1

The Assumption of the Virgin

Michel Sittow · c. 1500 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1965.1.1
Shown from the shoulders up, a man and woman face our left in profile against a dark background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman is situated closer to us so she overlaps the man, whose profile is shifted to our left. The woman’s eye we can see is brown and she looks ahead from under a gently arched eyebrow. She has a pale skin with faintly blushed cheeks, a straight nose, and her pink lips are closed. Her reddish-gold hair is pulled back into a loose knot at the base of her head, and tendrils fall down her neck. Her hair is braided across the crown of her head, which is encircled with a string of pearls and adorned with a red jewel over her forehead. Gossamer-white fabric wraps around the base of her long neck. The man behind her and to our left has a more tan complexion. He looks ahead with brown eyes under lowered eyebrows. He has a long, bumped nose and his pink lips are closed. He has auburn-brown hair and wears a burgundy-red robe around his shoulders. The pair occupy a shallow space behind a stone ledge that runs along the bottom edge of this composition. The light that illuminates them from the front creates a halo-like effect on the midnight-blue background behind them. The number "19" is painted in the lower left corner.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Agrippina and Germanicus, c. 1614, oil on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Fund, 1963.8.1

Agrippina and Germanicus

Sir Peter Paul Rubens · c. 1614 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1963.8.1
The image shows a view from an elevated perspective. A large tree is prominent on the left side, with intricate branches and foliage. A body of water extends across the scene, reflecting gently rippling patterns. In the distance, a castle-like structure sits on a hill surrounded by hills and forests leading to the horizon. The horizon is high in the composition. A small boat with figures is on the water. The drawing uses a monochromatic palette of blacks and grays on a light beige background, emphasizing intricate line techniques.
Wolf Huber, The Rapids of the Danube near Grein, 1531, pen with black and gray ink, Rosenwald Collection, 1950.20.7

The Rapids of the Danube near Grein

Wolf Huber · 1531 · pen with black and gray ink ·  Accession ID  1950.20.7
The image is a detailed pencil sketch featuring multiple studies of human figures and parts. Most of the figures are shown as busts or partial figure studies. The largest figure on the right depicts a muscular man viewed from the torso up, with his arms flexed. Just below him, an arm and clenched hand are shown separately. The central figure is a woman shown from the waist up. She is wearing a textured outfit and appears to be balancing a basket or container on her head, with her arm raised for support. On the left, two faces are drawn; one is of a woman with wavy hair, and the other is of an older man with curly hair and a beard. Above them, an isolated sketch of a foot is depicted. The background is plain and unadorned, allowing the drawn figures and elements to remain the primary focus.
Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet, Study for Miraculous Draught of Fishes (?), black chalk with touches of white chalk on brown paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1971.45.1

Study for Miraculous Draught of Fishes (?)

Jean-Baptiste Jouvenet · black chalk with touches of white chalk on brown paper ·  Accession ID  1971.45.1
The image shows a landscape with a stream, vegetation, people near the water, a fence, buildings, hills, and a sky with clouds. The artwork features detailed brushstrokes creating texture in the foliage. The color palette consists mainly of blues and whites.
German 16th Century, Landscape with Men Fishing, 1544, pen and black ink with white heightening on blue prepared paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1950.20.5

Landscape with Men Fishing

German 16th Century · 1544 · pen and black ink with white heightening on blue prepared paper ·  Accession ID  1950.20.5
The artwork is a detailed drawing depicting a medieval scene in a vertical orientation. A knight, dressed in armor and helmet with a plume, is mounted on a rearing horse. The knight holds a lance, and the horse is adorned with a decorative bridle. Positioned to the left, the horse and rider dominate the composition. Below them, a dragon lies on the ground, its body and wings stretched out. To the right, a woman in a long gown and veil holds the dragon by a leash. The figures are rendered with fine lines and shading, giving a sense of depth and texture. The background is minimally detailed, focusing attention on the central figures.
Hugo van der Goes, Saint George and the Dragon, pen and brown ink on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1950.20.3

Saint George and the Dragon

Hugo van der Goes · pen and brown ink on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1950.20.3

Bibliography

1973

  • 25 Jahre. Feilchenfeldt in Zürich. Zürich, 1973 (introduction by Marianne Feilchenfeldt).

1990

  • Broglio, Jeanne Marie de. "Marianne Feilchenfeldt: Portraits." Connaissance des arts 460 (June 1990):128-133