Frank Duveneck Oil Painting Portrait "Genevieve Welling", Late 19th Century
Item Details
Frank Duveneck (American, Ohio/Germany/Italy, 1848 – 1919)
Genevieve Welling, late 19th century
Oil painting on canvas
Unsigned
Metal plate affixed to lower center of frame labeled with title and ascension information
Labels from The Baltimore Museum of Art adhered to frame verso and backing
Provenance
Deaccessioned from The Baltimore Museum of Art.
A bust portrait titled Genevieve Welling by renowned Cincinnati-based artist Frank Duveneck (Ohio/Germany/Italy, 1848 – 1919), created in the late 19th century. This work exhibits some of Duveneck’s trademark aspects found in his portraits, including the subject’s crimson lips, the red accents visible throughout the subject’s attire, and the subtle play of pink and red reflections throughout the sitter’s skin, particularly visible in her flushed cheeks. In the traditional Duveneck style, the tighter more refined brushstrokes are concentrated in the middle, revealing the details and careful chiaroscuro throughout the woman’s face; in contrast the brushstrokes are applied more loosely and painterly in the space surrounding the subject’s face, particularly in her lace collar, revealing the influence of some of Duveneck’s role models such as Dutch Masters Rembrandt and Frans Hals. This work was likely painted before the artist began to adopt brighter hues and still featured darker tones in his portraits. The painting is unsigned and presented in gilt gesso and wood frame with an oval opening.
Frank Duveneck is celebrated primarily as a portrait and figural painter, however he also painted landscapes and other genres. He was born in 1848 in Covington, Kentucky and was apprenticed as a teen to German-American artists who decorated Catholic churches. In 1869, he studied abroad at the Royal Academy of Munich and shared an interest in the Old European Masters, especially Dutch and Flemish artists of the 17th century, such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals. His earlier style is reflective of these influences as they exhibited darker colors and expressive brushstrokes, demonstrating a melded style of his German contemporaries and Old Master techniques. Duveneck returned to Cincinnati where his work began to receive attention, then once again traveled to Munich where he opened a school in 1878. His students Twachtman, Otto Bacher and Herman Wessel, to name a few, became known as the “Duveneck Boys”. In 1889, after the tragic loss of his wife, Duveneck returned again to the United States and chose to live a quiet life in Covington, Kentucky, while teaching at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he became the chairman. Some of his notable students at the Art Academy include Edward Timothy Hurley, Lewis Henry Meakin, John Weis, James Hopkins, and John Rettig, to name a few. Duveneck’s work can be found in many prestigious private collections, as well as the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; the Cincinnati Art Museum; the Richmond Art Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; and the Kenton County Library in Covington, Kentucky, among many others.
Condition
- large area of in painting present center of woman’s head; small areas of in painting scattered throughout; painting has been relined with wax; moulding loss throughout edges and corners f frame; small spots of finish loss scattered throughout frame.
Dimensions
- measurement of frame; canvas size measures approximately 18.5" W x 24.5" H.
Item #
ITMG466950
