CONRAD FELIXMÜLLER | Der Maler Erbach malt im Garten Kirchhoff (The Painter Erbach works in the Kirchoff Garden)

Private Collection, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner 

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down and attached to the mount along the upper edge. The left edge of the sheet is unevenly cut and the lower and right edges are deckled. The sheet is time stained. There are minor brown accretions to the sheet, notably at the lower centre, a spot in the left leg and two spots to the artist's back. There are minor spots of foxing to the background. This work is in overall good condition.
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The present work depicts the German artist Alois Erbach, working in the garden of the arts patron and collector, Heinrich Kirchhoff. Kirchoff was based in Wiesbaden where, in 1908, he built a wonderfully situated villa, surrounded by a tropical garden. In 1920, the year this drawing was executed, Kirchhoff invited Conrad Felixmüller to work in Wiesbaden where he painted, amongst other works, a group portrait of the Kirchoff family, now held in the collection of the Museum Wiesbaden.

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Heinz Spielmann.