Frank Duveneck Pastel Drawing of Nude Figure, circa 1915

Item Details

Frank Duveneck (American, Ohio/Germany/Italy, 1848 – 1919)
Untitled, circa 1915
Pastel drawing on paper
Signed with monogram to the lower left

Known Provenance and Exhibition History
Frank Duveneck
Gifted to Paul Ashbrook (1867-1949) from Duveneck, 1915
Passed to Robert Ashbrook, circa 1950
Exhibited at Cincinnati Art Galleries, 2018

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

- toning to paper; slight smudging of image due to excess pigment; slight billow to paper under glass; minor crease to lower margin of paper.

Dimensions

- measures frame; visible image measures 12" W x 17.75" H.

• Item not examined outside of mounting.

Item #

ITMG785064