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Portrait of Beethoven by Waldmüller

Portrait of Beethoven by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, 1823. Oil on canvas, 66 x 57 cm. Primary and only surviving version of the painting, used by Waldmüller for a second copy on commission of Breitkopf & Härtel in 1823. The second copy was destroyed in WWII i
Item Information
Material Type
Art object
Record Number
Ao7
Creator
Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller
Previous Owners
Kistner, Friedrich Kistner, Mrs. M. Gurkhaus, Firzt Reuter
Provenance
Waldmüller (until ca. 1831), Friedrich Kistner, Leipzig (after ca. 1831), Frau M. Gurkhaus, Leipzig (by descent) by whom sold at Leo Liepmannssohn; sale, Berlin, 16 Nov. 1929, lot 8; Dr. Fritz Reuter, Kothof a.d. Eck, Hans Schneider Musikantiquariat; sale, Tutzing, 1968, no. 1 (where purchased by seller’s father). Sold at Christie’s as “the property of a lady.”
Auction Information
Auction House
Christie's (London)
Lot Number
8
Bibliographical Reference
Schindler, Biographie von Ludwig van Beethoven, 1840, v. 2, p. 290; Frimmel, Beethovens äussere Erscheinung, Munich 1905, p. 117; W. Lütge, Waldmüller’s Beethovenbild, in Der Bär, Leipzig, 1927; Beethoven Bi-Centenary 1770-1970, published by Phillips, illustrated on the cover of the catalog (location unknown); E. Worgull, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüuller malt Ludwig van Beethoven, in Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, Tutzing, 1979, v. 30; Köhler and Heere, Ludwig van Beethovens Konversationshefte, Leipzig, 1983, v.3, pp. 90, 221f and 293.Notes auction index 1996-2005
Date of Sale
10/9/1996
Sold to
unknown
Pricing Information
Treasures Tracking
Object
Estimate Price
200,000-300,000 GBP
Sale Price
230000 GBP
Sale Price in U.S Currency
$358800.00
Hammer Price
200000 GBP