One of Hofer's most frequent themes was that of a woman seated at a window, the window motif being a familiar image from Romantic iconography. Hofer usually adopted the vantage point of looking in through the window (see lot 163) however, in this example we are invited into the room, with the window subjugated to the background. In front of it a young woman sits languidly on a chair, her heavy sphinx-like eyes half closed as she stares into the middle distance. As with all Hofer's women she remains aloof and untouchable, quite oblivious to the viewer and possessing an air of quiet calm. A soft yellow light suffuses the scene, reinforcing the tranquil, meditative air which characterizes all Hofer's work.

This painting was originally part of the collection of Dr. Oskar Reinhart. Reinhart's name is now associated with two famous collections of paintings and drawings; one housed in his own home and the other forming the Siftung Oskar Reinhart, which was donated to the town of Winterthur in 1951. "Originally Dr. Reinhart had no intention of making two separate collections..Then one day, after he had already acquired a considerable group of works by old Masters and nineteenth century French painters, his eye was caught by a painting by Max Liebermann... Charmed and interested, Dr. Reinhart began from that moment (c. 1926) to enlarge his scope as a collector to take in German, Austrian and Swiss painting of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries." (D. Cooper, Great Private Collections, London, 1963, p. 205-7) He collected these with such enthusiasm that a division was ultimately necessary with four hundred paintings and two hundred drawings and watercolours set aside to be housed in the museum in Winterthur. "This is a collection which can best be described as an ensemble of outstanding achievements in painting, selected by a man with great taste and knowledge." (Ibid., p. 208)

Sold with a photo-certificate from Karl Bernard Wohlert dated Dortmund, den 28.7.95 with the Wohlert no.1119