109: WALTER UFER (1876-1936) WIDELY EXHIBITED OIL ON CANVAS

Walter Ufer (New Mexico, 1876-1936)
Woman from Dachau (1912)
The important early portrait of a Bavarian peasant woman in festive attire is signed and dated upper left front. The title is confirmed by two exhibition labels verso. Painted in 1912 at the artist's colony near Dachau, it was exhibited and published at least four times during the first half of the 20th century:

• Panama-Pacific International Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, San Francisco, 1915-1916.

• Art Institute of Chicago, 20th Annual Exhibition of Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, February 8-March 5, 1916 (probable entry; Ufer listed with Chicago address per the unidentified label verso).

• Published in the Fine Arts Journal Vol. 34, No. 5, May 1916, pp. 221-226 (illus. as Plate IV, ''Woman from Dachau,'' in Anne Lisle Booth, ''Two Moods of a Forceful Artist'').

• Exhibited Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American Art, Art in New Mexico, 1900-1945: Paths to Taos and Santa Fe, Washington, D.C., 1986; traveled to Cincinnati, Houston, and Denver, 1986-1987.

• Referenced and illustrated in A Place in the Sun: The Southwest Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin Hennings, December 13, 2015-April 24, 2016; traveled to the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, May 22-August 28, 2016 (Woman from Dachau included).

The subject was a woman from one of the villages around the colony just outside Munich. The sitter wears the traditional costume for special occasions in Dachau and its surrounding villages, including an ornate bodice, a headdress, and an elaborate apron. She also wears the distinctive jewelry, medals, and religious tokens common to the region, all portrayed in detail by the artist.

This version is the second of her that Ufer painted. The first version was wiped from the canvas by Ufer's notoriously demanding instructor Walther Thor. Thor took a palette knife and scraped it off the canvas, telling the enraged Ufer it was ''very good… I wanted to see if it was an accident.'' The model was then brought back so Ufer could repaint the portrait.

This painting was purchased from Walter Ufer by William H. Klauer in 1919 and acquired by the current owners' grandfather from his friend and noted Ufer benefactor, the industrialist William H. Klauer, who collected dozens of Ufer paintings. Listed in multiple publications as 'whereabouts unknown,' this work is fresh to the market, marking the first time it has been offered for sale since the early 20th century.
The canvas measures 22 x 17.5 inches, framed size 25 x 22.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up as confirmed under UV light. Not relined, original stretchers, no issue of any type to any degree.
Provenance: Property of a private family collection, Iowa.
$15,000 - $20,000