The young woman has retreated to the secluded corner of a garden to read her letter. Unnoticed, the viewer shares in this intimate moment. Through the artist’s use of the same pastel shades and dotted brushstrokes, the portrait subject seems to merge with her surroundings. Like many of her fellow female artists, Marie Bertuch fell into oblivion. Having received her artistic education in Zurich, New York, and Paris, she took French Impressionism as her orientation.
She and her husband, the literature professor August Bertuch, lived in Paris and Frankfurt.
Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of this work. Else Krüger-Pose, a resident of the Römerstadt district of Frankfurt, wrote a letter to the Städel Museum in May 1941 offering to donate the painting.
The canvas is documented as having arrived at the museum the following month: “[The] work by the painter Bertuch has arrived in good condition.” Presumably it remained in the Städel undamaged during the war, while most of the museum’s collection had already been placed in safekeeping elsewhere in 1939.
This beautiful work is featured in the Women Artists between Frankfurt and Paris around 1900 exhibition on view in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt until October 27, 2024. Don't miss it!