The Master of the Female Half Lengths

(active Netherlands, circa 1500-1530)

The Madonna and Child reading

Footnotes

This painting is sold pursuant to a settlement agreement between the current possessor, a private US collector, and the court-appointed liquidator ("Nachtragsliquidator") of the Van Diemen & Co. GmbH (of which the Oppenheimer estate "Erbengemeinschaft" is the sole shareholder). This settlement agreement resolves the dispute over ownership and full title will be guaranteed to the successful bidder, it is no longer subject to any claim as registered with the Art Loss Register and the Koordinierungsstelle fur Kulturgutverluste Magdeburg.

Provenance
With Paul Mersch, Paris, May 1925
With Galerie van Diemen, Berlin, 1926
Their forced liquidation sale, Paul Graupe, Berlin, 25-26 January 1935, lot 36 (sold for 3400 RM)
Sale, Paul Graupe, Berlin, 20-21 October 1936, lot 28 (sold for 5000 RM)
Private Collection, USA


Literature
M. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish painting, Leiden and Brussels, 1975, vol. XII, under no. 61

The present work can be compared with another painting by the artist, of similar dimensions, offered at Sotheby's, New York, 30 January 1988, lot 228. Both works depict the Christ Child affectionately holding the Virgin's headdress. Our work is characteristic of The Master of the Female Half Lengths's depictions of the Virgin and Child, which are frequently set against a dark, neutral background, often with a table in the foreground with an open book (see: M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, Leiden, 1935, vol. XII, pp.172-3).

The present work is offered with a certificate from M.J. Friedländer from 1949.