Completed Continental European after 1800 12 comments Is this painting by one of the Meyerheim family?
Photo credit: Southampton City Art Gallery
This painting depicts Cinderella with the doves & turtle-doves who she asked help from to aid her in picking up the lentils her wicked step-mother had strewn in the ashes.
The original painting was commissioned by Magnus Herrmann, a Berlin-based banker and painted by the Meyerheim brothers, Paul Friedrich, Friedrich Eduard and Franz Eduard. A chromolithograph was produced after the original:
http://ebay.to/2nI5qjs
But there may have been more than oil painting as an example by Friedrich Eduard was with G. B. Tate & Sons (scroll down the page):
http://bit.ly/2nIjCsF
The colouring of the Southampton painting seems closer to the oil by Friedrich Eduard than the chromolithograph, so it has potential to be by one of the brothers.
The collection has no further information.
Tim Williams, Entry reviewed by Art UK
Completed, Outcome
This discussion is now closed. There is a possibility that this picture was painted by one of the Meyerheim brothers, most likely Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (1842–1915).
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the discussion. To anyone viewing this discussion for the first time, please see below for all the comments that led to this conclusion.
11 comments
We have an entry for Friedrich Eduard Meyerheim (1808–1879) on Art UK, which can be found here: http://bit.ly/2jaYeiz
Paul illustrated the 1873 edition of Grimm's Kinder und Hausmarchen , Berlin with 8 colour prints [this went into very many editions]
He also completed the 1880 autobiography of Friedrich Eduard which was published in 1880 [ both of these in the National Art Library]
The Warburg has Lepke, Berlin, 1916 catlogue of the sale of his collection
That year a book by ABC, Paul Meyerheim, was published by Brandus in Berlin
Doubtless there is more recent bibliographical information in the multi volume artists' dictionary being published in Munich [NAL and BL] which is now beyond the letter M
Birmingham University has a copy of the catalogue of Paul's 1910 Akademie der Kunste, Berlin exhibition
Another painting of this composition attributed to Friedrich Edouard Meyerheim was sold at Aspire Auctions, Cleveland 14 May 2010 as 'Girl feeding doves' see http://www.arcadja.com
It was lot 7
The popularity of this subject and of Grimm would explain the existence of several versions and it would be very difficult to establish which was painted first, without more information on their provenance and exhibition history.
I should have noticed that the National Art Library copies of the Grimm volumes are kept in their Renier's children's literature special collection at Blythe House, where you will need to arrange an appointment in advance to consult them
Although De Gruyter, Allgemeines Kunstlelexiko, 89, 2016 , pp. 288-90 has two quite long entries on the Meyerheim they do not mention Grimm and it is not immediately evident from the bibliographies that any of the publications listed are relevant either - nor has anything caught the eye of the compilers of Bibliography of the History of Art.
The text of the autobiography ends too soon to provide any information
Having looked the higher res image on Art UK's own database, it seems clear to me the Southampton painting is not of the quality of the signed painting in the Aspire auction: https://www.aspireauctions.com/#!/catalog/219/935/lot/34800/image .
We know that the image was reproduced as a chromolithograph, but if this is the chromolithograph ( https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/grimmbilder/images/f/ff/Aschenputtel_Paul_Meyerheim_Gemaelde.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170916175105&path-prefix=de ) then probably the Southampton painting was not copied from the print as it differs in details.
This painting is one of a dozen or so from the Southampton collection on loan to the organization below, hanging in the public spaces - which include a restaurant, bar and bistro open to non-residents - of the converted country house round which it is based:
https://www.audleyvillages.co.uk/our-villages/inglewood-retirement-village-kintbury-berkshire
Others include this good Russell Flint oil:
https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/nomads-rendezvous-17481/search/keyword:william-russell-flint/page/2
Not an advertisement, but 'worth the detour' if interested and in the area...
I suggest we draw this discussion to a close, even if the results are inconclusive. There is a possibility the picture was painted by one of the Meyerheim brothers, most likely Paul, since it appears to be inferior to the version by Friedrich Eduard that featured in the Aspire auction.