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Paul Gauguin

Madame Alexandre Kohler, 1887/1888

West Building, Ground Floor — Gallery G5

Medium

oil on linen

Dimensions

overall: 46.3 x 38 cm (18 1/4 x 14 15/16 in.)

framed: 61.6 x 52.7 cm (24 1/4 x 20 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Chester Dale Collection

Accession Number

1963.10.27

Artists / Makers

Paul Gauguin (painter) French, 1848 - 1903

Image Use

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Inscription

lower right: P Gauguin

Provenance

Gift of the artist to the sitter, Mme Alexandre Kohler.[1] Probably Amédée Schuffenecker [1854-1936], by 1906. [2] Leon Pédron, Le Havre; (his sale, Paris, 2 June 1926, no. 23 as Portrait de Mme Kohler); purchased for ff 15000 by (Galerie L. Dru, Paris); sold 6 June 1926 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York;[3] bequest 1963 to NGA.

[1] As noted in an inventory kept by Gauguin noting the whereabouts of his paintings. A facsimile of the carnet containing the inventory list is reproduced and annotated in René Huyghe, Le Carnet de Paul Gauguin (Paris, 1950), volume II, page 226. Mme Kohler was a neighbor of Emile Schuffennecker, Amédée's brother. (See Marice Maligne, ed.,Letters of Gauguin, Paris, 1946, p.132, n.2.) Claude Emile Schuffenecker was a friend and early collector of Gauguin. Due to his divorce that was finalized in 1904, he sold his collection of over 100 works by Gauguin, van Gogh and others to his brother Amédée in the hopes that the collection would remain in tact. Amédée, however, was just starting out as a dealer and sold many of the works. (See Sophie Monneret, Impressionnisme et son époque, Paris, 1978, volume 2, p. 333 and Claude-Emile Schuffenecker, Exh. cat., University Art Gallery, State University of New York at Binghamton and Hammer Galleries, 1980, p. 29). This picture might have been among those that passed between the brothers. The painting was for sale when exhibited in Frankfurt in 1906.

[2] According to Daniel Wildenstein, Gauguin: Premier itinéraire d'un sauvage, 2001: no. 258, the painting had left the sitter's possession c. 1904. It is for sale when exhibited in Munich in 1906.

[3] Date of Chester Dale's acquisition from his papers in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Dale, Chester
Galerie L. Dru
Kohler, Alexandre, Mme
Pédron, Leon
Sale, Paris
Schuffenecker, Amédée

Exhibition History

1904: Galerie des Collectionneurs, Paris, 1904.

1904: Possibly Die Schule von Pont-Aven im Kunstverein, Munich Kunstverein, 1904.

1906: Austellung Franzözische Künstler, Munich Kunstverein, Frankfurt Kunstverein, Dresden Kunstverein, Badischer Kunstverein, Württembergischer Kunstverein, 1906-1907, no. 37.

1928: Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 12, as Portrait de Marie.

1936: Cezanne - Gauguin. The Toledo Museum of Art, 1936, no. 8, repro., as Portrait of Marie Henry.

1936: Paul Gauguin: Exhibition of Paintings and Prints, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1936, no. 7, repro.

1937: Problems of Portraiture, Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Phillips Memorial Gallery, Washington, 1937-1938.

1943: Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943-1951, unnumbered cat., repro., as Portrait of Marie Henry.

1965: The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

Bibliography

1904: Morice, Charles. "Art Moderne: A la Galerie des Collectionneurs." Mercure de France (April 1904): 252.

1906: Hartmann, Alfred Georg. "Neue französische Malerei III," Münchner Allegemeine Zeitung 421 (Vorabendblatt 12 September 1906).

1906: Spectator. "Frankfurter Kunstschau :Die Franzosen im Kunstverein," Frankfurter Zeitung (2nd Morganblatt 16 October 1906).

1929: Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 62, repro., as Portrait of Marie de Pouldu.

1936: "Art Throughout America," Art News (November 14, 1936): as Portrait of Marie Henry.

1942: Hook, Katrina can. "A Self-Portrait by Paul Gauguin from the Chester Dale Collection," Gazette des Beaux-Arts series VI, XXII (October-December 1942): 185, repro.

1943: Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. Philadelphia, 1943:, unpaginated, repro., as Portrait of Marie Henry.

1944: Malingue, Maurice. Gauguin, Les Documents d'Art. Paris, 1944: 70, as Portrait de Mlle Marie Henry.

1946: Malingue, Maurice. Lettres de Gauguin à sa femme et à ses amis. Paris, 1946: 132 n 2.

1948: Malingue, Maurice. Gauguin, le peintre et son oeuvre. Paris, 1948: pl. 143.

1949: Leymarie, Jean. Gauguin: Exposition du centenaire. Exh. cat., Musées nationaux, Paris, 1949: 25, under no. 13

1950: Lewandowski, Herbert. Paul Gauguin, oder, Die Flucht vor der Zivilisation. Bern, 1950: 344.

1952: Huyghe, Rene. Le carnet de Paul Gauguin. 2 vols. Paris, 1952: 2:123, manuscript p. 226.

1964: Wildenstein, Georges. Gauguin. 2 vols. Paris, 1964: 1:118, no. 314, repro.

1965: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 122, repro., as Marie Henry of Pouldu.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 55.

1966: Bodelsen, Marete. "The Wildenstein-Cogniat Gauguin Catalogue." The Burlington Magazine 108, no. 754 (January 1966): 28, 37.

1967: Blanton, Catherine W. "Notes on a Portrait by Gauguin in the Chester Dale Collection." Studies in the History of Art 1 (1967-68): 89-98, fig. 1.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968:48, repro.

1972: Sugana, Gabriele Mandel. Tout l'ouevre peint de Gauguin. Milan, 1972: no. 155, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 146, repro.

1975: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: repro. 524.

1981: Sugana, Gabriele Mandel. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Gauguin. Paris, 1981: no. 155, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 520, no. 782, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 168, repro.

1989: Merlhès, Victor. Paul Gauguin et Vincent van Gogh 1887-1888: Lettres Retrouvées, Sources Ignorées. Papeete, Tahiti, 1989: 243.

1997: Kropmanns, Peter. Gauguin und die Schule von Pont-Aven im Deutschland nach der Jahrhundertwende. Sigmaringen, 1997: 23-24, 33, 83, 88, repro.

2001: Wildenstein, Daniel. Gauguin: Premier itinéraire d'un sauvage. Catalogue de l'oeuvre peint (1873-1888). 2 vols. Paris, 2001: 2:no. 258, repro.

2005: Bretell, Richard R., and Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark. Gauguin and Impressionism. Exh. cat. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen. New Haven, 2005: fig. 230, 297.

2010: Thomson, Belinda et al. Gauguin: Maker of Myth. Exh. cat. Tate Modern, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2010: fig. 21, 94, 95, fig 36.

2013: Gamboni, Dario. Paul Gauguin au “centre mystérieux de la pensée". Dijon, 2013: 289–290, repro.