The Blue Bowl

Details

Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)
The Blue Bowl
signed and dated 'F.C. Frieseke--1901' (lower right)
oil on canvas
26 ¾ x 22 in. (67.9 x 55.8 cm.)
Painted in 1901.

Provenance

The artist.
Herman C. Frieseke, Los Angeles, California, father of the above.
Herman Frieseke, Los Angeles, California, by descent, 1924.
Frances Frieseke Kilmer, by descent, 1959.
Private collection, by descent.
Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York, 2001.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2001.

Literature

A.M. Cook, “Frieseke’s Latest Pictures on Exhibition in Los Angeles," (probably) Los Angeles Times, January 1912 (clipping preserved in the Frieseke Family Papers).
N. Kilmer, Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist, Savannah, Georgia, 2001, pp. 21-22, fig. 1.8, illustrated.

Exhibited

New York, Hollis Taggart Galleries and Owosso, Michigan, Shiawassee Arts Council, Chamber Works by Frederick C. Frieseke, November 28, 2000-February 11, 2001, p. 109, pl. 48, illustrated.

Lot Essay

Painted in France in 1901, The Blue Bowl is Frieseke's first finished painting of a nude. Of the work, he wrote, "I have a model mornings now. A blonde girl with rather reddish hair. Am trying to paint a nude--the first thing I have ever tried like that..." Frieseke returned home to Owosso, Michigan the next year and took "much pleasure in shocking the good Church people with the nudes." (as quoted in N. Kilmer, Frederick Carl Frieseke: The Evolution of an American Impressionist, Savannah, Georgia, 2001, p. 21).

This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Frieseke's work being compiled by Nicholas Kilmer, the artist's grandson, and sponsored by Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York.

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