Lot Essay
In a letter to the former owner dated Berlin, February 22, 1934, Max Liebermann wrote the following:
"I would like to thank you very much for your kind letter which contained the pleasant news that the self-portrait is now your property; and I am most pleased to hear that you like it. The portrait was painted in 1921, which seems unlikely due to my appearance--the 13 years which have passed since were mostly years of war and thus without the comfort which provides me with calmness of existence, and have left me looking the worst for wear."
"I would like to thank you very much for your kind letter which contained the pleasant news that the self-portrait is now your property; and I am most pleased to hear that you like it. The portrait was painted in 1921, which seems unlikely due to my appearance--the 13 years which have passed since were mostly years of war and thus without the comfort which provides me with calmness of existence, and have left me looking the worst for wear."