Toilette
- Date
- 1910 (recto) / c.1908 (verso)
- Material
- Double-sided oil on canvas
- made in
- Berlin, Berlin state, Germany, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 215
- Dimensions
- 36 x 33 3/4 in. (91.4 x 85.7 cm)
framed: 38 x 36 in. (96.5 x 91.4 cm) - Credit Line
- Bequest of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 942:1983
NOTES
In this stark composition, a scene of a woman arranging her hair doubles as an exercise in color. Horizontal bands of intense purple and red break across the glowing white of her columnar torso. Flecks of yellow, blue, and pink animate her skin, pale reflections of the surrounding colors. Georg Tappert was a leading Expressionist artist in Berlin and cofounder of the New Secession. Much of his art was lost in World War II when a bomb struck his house.
Provenance
1910 - still in 1962
Georg Tappert (1880-1957) and Annalise Tappert (1908–2002), Berlin, Germany [1]
- 1963
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, NY, acquired from Annalise Tappert [2]
1963/05/16 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Leonard Hutton Galleries [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] Correspondence from Georg Tappert's widow, Annalise Tappert, to Morton D. May indicates that Georg Tappert was among the degenerate artists banned from German museums under the Nazi regime. Many of his paintings were kept for safekeeping in the Tappert household. At her husband's request, only after his death was Annalise Tappert able to attempt to restore his reputation as an artist. This painting (titled "Der Halbakt") is listed as one of three paintings on loan from her to the Städtisches Museum Wuppertal, Germany for an exhibition in 1962 [letters to Morton D. May dated May 17, 1962 and May 30, 1962, SLAM document files].
[2] Correspondence from Leonard Hutton Galleries confirms that the painting was acquired by the gallery from Annalise Tappert, and later sold to Morton D. May [letter to Morton D. May dated May 4th, 1963; letter to the Museum dated July 14, 1993, SLAM document files].
[3] See note [2]. May purchased the painting from Leonard Hutton Galleries on May 16, 1963 [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.
Georg Tappert (1880-1957) and Annalise Tappert (1908–2002), Berlin, Germany [1]
- 1963
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, NY, acquired from Annalise Tappert [2]
1963/05/16 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Leonard Hutton Galleries [3]
1983 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May [4]
Notes:
[1] Correspondence from Georg Tappert's widow, Annalise Tappert, to Morton D. May indicates that Georg Tappert was among the degenerate artists banned from German museums under the Nazi regime. Many of his paintings were kept for safekeeping in the Tappert household. At her husband's request, only after his death was Annalise Tappert able to attempt to restore his reputation as an artist. This painting (titled "Der Halbakt") is listed as one of three paintings on loan from her to the Städtisches Museum Wuppertal, Germany for an exhibition in 1962 [letters to Morton D. May dated May 17, 1962 and May 30, 1962, SLAM document files].
[2] Correspondence from Leonard Hutton Galleries confirms that the painting was acquired by the gallery from Annalise Tappert, and later sold to Morton D. May [letter to Morton D. May dated May 4th, 1963; letter to the Museum dated July 14, 1993, SLAM document files].
[3] See note [2]. May purchased the painting from Leonard Hutton Galleries on May 16, 1963 [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.