Images(2)

Portrait of Emy

Artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff German, 1884–1976

Date1919

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions28 5/16 x 25 3/4 in. (71.9 x 65.4 cm)
Frame: 34 1/4 x 31 1/4 x 2 in. (87 x 79.4 x 5.1 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineBequest of W. R. Valentiner

Object numberG.65.10.58

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceThe artist; sold to W. R. Valentiner, Berlin, 1919 [1][2][3]; Valentiner Estate, Raleigh, NC, 1958 [4]; to NCMA, by bequest, 1965.

[1] Letter from Schmidt-Rottluff to Valentiner, 1919. See note in curatorial file.
[2] The work is listed in the monograph with no collector, but in the journal, it is listed as "Private Collection, Berlin," suggesting that the work had been acquired in the interim.
[3] Letter from Brigitta Bertoia, Valentiner's daughter, to Mitchell Kahan, NCMA, April 8, 1983, states that the work was purchased from the artist in 1919.
[4] L.58.35.VEDIA

Published ReferencesErnst Gosebruch, “Schmidt-Rottluff,” Genius 2 (1920), 12-14, illus. (b-w). Wilhelm R. Valentiner, Schmidt-Rotluff, no. 16 in Junge Kunst series (Leipzig: Klinkhardt und Biermann, 1920), 9-10, illus. 19. Reprinted in Jahrbuch der jungen Kunst 1 (1920), 189-212; and in Der Cicerone 12 (1920), 455-476. Carl Einstein, Die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, 2nd ed. (Berlin: Propyläen-Verlag, 1926), 371, 563, illus. (b-w). Paul Schultze-Naumburg, Kunst und Rasse (Munich: J. F. Lehmanns, 1935), 106, illus. 120, 121. Willi Grohmann, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1956), 94, 97, 201, 289, illus. The Art Quarterly 26, no. 2 (Summer 1963), 277. "Acquisitions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 6, no. 4, and 7, no. 1 (1966/67?), listed 79, illus. (b-w) 68, fig. 33. Exhibition Number One from the Permanent Collection (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1970), 128, illus. (b-w) 129. "Acquisitions: The Valentiner Bequest," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 6, no. 4 and 7, no. 1 (1966/67?), listed 79. Ian Dunlop, The Shock of the New (New York: American Heritage Press, 1972), 228 (citation of Schultze-Naumburg), illus. 230. New York Times, Obituary (August 11, 1976), 38. German and Austrian Expressionism: Art in a Turbulent Era (exhibition catalogue) (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1978), 19, illus 21. Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill, published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (color) 24. Kenneth Baker, "A nightmare of an exhibition that really happened," Smithsonian (? 1991), 93, illus. 92 (relates to the Paul Schultze-Naumburg book, Kunst und Rasse). Stephanie Barron, "Degenerate Art": The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991), 12-13, illus. 12 (reproduced from Kunst und Rasse by P. Schultze-Naumburg). L. E. [Lisa Eveleigh], "Private Collectors Share Their Art." North Carolina Museum of Art Preview (Autumn 1992), 12. Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (color) 259. Timothy O. Benson, "Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's Portrait of Emy: A Moment of Transition," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 17 (1997), 40-55, illus. (color) 40, detail (color) 55. Huston Paschal, entry for Portrait of Emy, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, Rebecca Martin Nagy, ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1998), 218, illus. (color). North Carolina Museum of Art Annual Report (1997-98), detail (b-w) 8-9. Peter-Klaus Schuster, et al, Das XX Jahrhundert: Ein Jahr Hundert Kunst in Deutschland (Berlin: Nationalgalerie Berlin, 1999), illus. (b-w) 141. Seeing Women: Celebrating Women's History through Art, Newspapers in Education (supplement to the Raleigh News & Observer, n.d.), 6-7, illus. (color) cover, 6. Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (March/April 2003), illus. (color) 14. M. Therese Southgate, M.D., "The Cover," JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 289, no. 2 (January 8, 2003), discussed 139, illus. (color) 139 and cover. "Highlights Include Kids' Favorites," Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (September/October 2003), mentioned 6-7. John W. Coffey, entry for Portrait of Emy, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 454, illus. (color) 455. Roman Zieglgänsberger, “Du und Ich: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in seinen Freundschaftsbildnissen,” in Karl Schmidt-Rottluff: Bild und Selbstbild (Munich: Hirmer Verlag for Museum Wiesbaden and Brücke-Museum, Berlin, 2015), mentioned 46, illus. (color) 49, fig. 28 (catalogue only, not in exhibition). Indra K. Lacis, “Together and Apart,” Masterworks on Loan (Cleveland Museum of Art brochure), July–September 2016, discussed 21–25, illus. (color) 20. Indra K. Lacis, “Together and Apart,” Cleveland Art (Cleveland Museum of Art), September/October 2016, discussed and illus. (color) 19. Valerie Nieman, "Expressionist Portrait" in “You Are the River: Literature Inspired by the North Carolina Museum of Art,” edited by Helena Feder (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2021), illus (color) 172.

Exhibition HistoryMunich, Germany, "Moderne Kunst," 1920 (see letter from Brigitta Bertoia to Mitchell Kahan). New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, “Twentieth-Century Master Movements: German Expressionism,” traveling exhibition, Nov. 1951-July 1953, unnumbered (as Head of a Woman). Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Exhibition Number One from the Permanent Collection, October 1970, 128, illus. (b-w) 129. Chicago, IL, Museum of Contemporary Art, “German and Austrian Expressionism: Art in a Turbulent Era,” Mar. 10-Apr. 30, 1978. Winston-Salem, NC, Wake Forest University, Fine Arts Gallery, "German Expressionist Works," Feb. 14-March 9, 1979. Cleveland, OH, Cleveland Museum of Art, “Centennial Loan,” exhibited with the permanent collection, August 25–December 18, 2016. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Becoming the NCMA: 10 Decades of Collecting, 1924-2022," June 11-August 21, 2022. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–May 22, 2023.

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