Josef Eberz Lot n° 518

Portrait of a woman with veil. Oil on canvas. (19)23. Approx. 94,5 x 78 cm. Signed and dated lower left. Verso again signed and titled "Bildnis Frau Professor Kehrer" (in his own hand?). In modern times Josef Eberz would be described as a "multi-talent". He was a painter, graphic artist, illustrator, designer of mosaics and stained glass windows. In Munich he studied under Franz von Stuck and Peter Halm, before moving via Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe to Stuttgart, where he became a master student of Adolf Hölzel. This enabled Eberz to take part in the Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne in 1912, the largest exhibition of modern art to date. His works were exhibited alongside works by van Gogh, Munch and Picasso. In the period that followed, Eberz increasingly turned to sacred art, painting churches and designing church windows. A temporary highlight of his career was a scholarship to the Villa Massimo in Rome in 1929. During the Third Reich, Eberz's art was considered "degenerate" and the Munich Secession, of which he was a member, was dissolved. The sitter is probably the wife of the art historian Prof. Dr. Hugo Kehrer, an expert on Spanish art. Completely in the style of New Objectivity, Josef Eberz creates a portrait that unites aloofness and melancholy in an outstanding way. The melancholic element is underlined by the light black veil, which draws the eye even more away from this world. Only the flower and the wedding ring slightly brighten the scenery. Provenance: Prof. Dr. Hugo Kehrer, Munich; Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg 9.6.2000, lot 1372; Van Ham, Cologne 4.6.2010, lot 35; Private collection, Europe. Taxation: differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).