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Untitled

Date
1988
Classification
Drawings & watercolors
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
12 5/8 x 9 7/16 in. (32.1 x 24 cm)
Credit Line
Partial and promised gift of Betsy Millard, the Earl and Betsy Millard Collection
Rights
© Josef Felix Müller
Object Number
73:2003
NOTES
In this drawing, Josef Müller paints a naked figure with outstretched arms in linseed oil. Its head has been cropped off at the paper's edge, yet the delicate face seems enclosed in the figure's dark red, opaque belly. This work is part of series in which Müller explored the age-old conflict between mind and body. Müller noted that this drawing is meant to raise questions: "What thinks inside of me?" and "To what extent is my mind a detriment to my body, or vice versa."
1988 - 1989
Galerie Artinizing, Munich, Germany, acquired from the artist [1]

1989 -
Earl Millard (d.1996) and Betsy Millard, St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Galerie Artinizing [2]

2003 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, partial and promised gift of Betsy Millard [3]


Notes:
The primary source of provenance is Betsy Millard [information for appraisals form, SLAM document files].

[1] Josef Felix Müller mentioned in an interview with Museum researcher Sydney Norton on December 14, 2005 in St. Gallen, Switzerland that the Galerie Artinizing showed this drawing with approximately 19 others in the same series at an exhibition of his drawings and sculpture that took place from February 12 through March 13, 1988 at the Munich gallery [Interview transcription, SLAM document files].

[2] Invoice dated May 11, 1989 addressed to Earl Millard from Galerie Artinizing [SLAM document files].

[3] The terms of this partial and promised gift are detailed in the contract between Betsy Millard and the Saint Louis Art Museum [Gift and Loan Agreement between Betsy Millard and SLAM, signed (no day or month) 2003, SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, June 3, 2003.

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