Still Life
- Date
- 1930
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- made in
- Frankfurt am Main, Hessen state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 209
- Dimensions
- 26 x 32 1/4 in. (66 x 81.9 cm)
framed: 32 3/4 x 38 7/8 x 2 1/4 in. (83.2 x 98.7 x 5.7 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
- Object Number
- 833:1983
NOTES
Fragmented shapes floating against a tan wall offer few clues to their meaning. Critics in the 1920s saw Willi Baumeister’s abstract paintings as images of the machine age and compared them to architectural plans. Baumeister also frequently depicted actual machines. In "Still Life," a rectangle and three circles, at left, is likely an old-fashioned radio with three tuner knobs. Radios, telephones, and wireless telegraphy brought the latest technology into German homes, transforming daily life in the 1930s.
Provenance
by 1931 -
Private Collection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany [1]
- 1961
Brösamle Collection, Stuttgart, Germany [2]
1961 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at the 36th auction "Moderne Kunst," Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett [Roman Norbert Ketterer (1911–2002)], Stuttgart, Germany, May 3-4, 1961, lot no. 14 [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] In Will Grohmann's 1931 publication the painting is listed as being in a private collection in Frankfurt am Main [Grohmann, Will. "Willi Baumeister." Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1931, p. 59]. The 2002 catalogue raisonné also indicates that the painting had been in a private Frankfurt collection, but does not provide a date [Beye, Peter and Felicitas Baumeister. "Willi Baumeister: Werkkatalog der Gemälde." Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2002, vol. II, cat. no. 395].
[2] Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett records indicate that the painting was offered for sale at the 1961 auction by "Brösamle, Stuttgart" [letter from Wolfgang Henze, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Archives, dated September 28, 2005, SLAM document files].
[3] Klipstein & Kornfeld, from Bern, Switzerland, acted as May's agent and bid for him at auction. The statement from Klipstein & Kornfeld is dated June 7, 1961 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
Private Collection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany [1]
- 1961
Brösamle Collection, Stuttgart, Germany [2]
1961 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at the 36th auction "Moderne Kunst," Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett [Roman Norbert Ketterer (1911–2002)], Stuttgart, Germany, May 3-4, 1961, lot no. 14 [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] In Will Grohmann's 1931 publication the painting is listed as being in a private collection in Frankfurt am Main [Grohmann, Will. "Willi Baumeister." Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1931, p. 59]. The 2002 catalogue raisonné also indicates that the painting had been in a private Frankfurt collection, but does not provide a date [Beye, Peter and Felicitas Baumeister. "Willi Baumeister: Werkkatalog der Gemälde." Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2002, vol. II, cat. no. 395].
[2] Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett records indicate that the painting was offered for sale at the 1961 auction by "Brösamle, Stuttgart" [letter from Wolfgang Henze, Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Archives, dated September 28, 2005, SLAM document files].
[3] Klipstein & Kornfeld, from Bern, Switzerland, acted as May's agent and bid for him at auction. The statement from Klipstein & Kornfeld is dated June 7, 1961 [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum].
[4] Last Will and Testament of M. D. May dated June 11, 1982 [copy, May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.