Tavern
- Date
- c.1909
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- possibly made in
- Dresden, Saxony state, Germany, Europe
- possibly made in
- Berlin, Berlin state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 213
- Dimensions
- 28 1/4 x 32 in. (71.8 x 81.3 cm)
framed: 36 3/4 x 40 1/2 x 4 in. (93.3 x 102.9 x 10.2 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 901:1983
NOTES
Three men dressed in dinner jackets drink at a table in the foreground. Behind them is a crimson curtain, decorated with arabesques and framing a view into an adjoining green room. Kirchner painted this work in Dresden, Germany and used high-key colors, influenced by French artist Henri Matisse, to convey the vibrant energy of modern city life. The artist and his fellow members of "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) artist group sought, in Kirchner’s words, “to draw their stimulus for creation directly from life and to subordinate themselves to experience.”
Provenance
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938); Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Estate, Switzerland [1]
- 1951
Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, NY, USA, acquired from the Kirchner Estate [2]
1951/02/13 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Buchholz Gallery [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] According to a letter dated February 13, 1951 from Curt Valentin to Morton D. May, the Buchholz Gallery had acquired the picture from the Kirchner estate [SLAM document files]. The painting bears the stamp of the Kirchner Estate.
[2] This painting was exhibited from December 8, 1950 - January 12, 1951. In the introduction to the exhibition catalog, it is stated that the "collection was recently imported from the Kirchner estate by the Buchholz Gallery of New York." It is listed in the catalog as lent by Buchholz Gallery ["Kirchner." Cambridge: Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1950, p. 6]. Buchholz Gallery is known to have acquired a number of works directly from the Kirchner estate, including at least three other paintings by the artist in the Museum's collection (258:1948, 592:1958, and 26:1992).
[3] Invoice dated February 13, 1951 [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 of the Administrative Board of Control, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
- 1951
Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York, NY, USA, acquired from the Kirchner Estate [2]
1951/02/13 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Buchholz Gallery [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] According to a letter dated February 13, 1951 from Curt Valentin to Morton D. May, the Buchholz Gallery had acquired the picture from the Kirchner estate [SLAM document files]. The painting bears the stamp of the Kirchner Estate.
[2] This painting was exhibited from December 8, 1950 - January 12, 1951. In the introduction to the exhibition catalog, it is stated that the "collection was recently imported from the Kirchner estate by the Buchholz Gallery of New York." It is listed in the catalog as lent by Buchholz Gallery ["Kirchner." Cambridge: Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1950, p. 6]. Buchholz Gallery is known to have acquired a number of works directly from the Kirchner estate, including at least three other paintings by the artist in the Museum's collection (258:1948, 592:1958, and 26:1992).
[3] Invoice dated February 13, 1951 [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 of the Administrative Board of Control, Saint Louis Art Museum, September 20, 1983.
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