Lot 182: Carl Gutherz O/C Painting, Cupid Band

Carl Gutherz or Guthers (Tennessee/Missouri, 1844-1907) oil on canvas painting, “Cupid Band,” 1889. A group of putti or cupids arranged in two rows and led by a figure who holds a bow and arrow play various instruments as they march through the night sky on clouds illuminated by a full moon. The band leader’s wings shine in numerous colors and a blue ribbon tied around his left shoulder trails behind him. Signed, dated, and inscribed “Paris,” lower right. Housed in a giltwood frame. Sight: 31 3/4 in H x 51 in W. Frame: 37 in H x 56 in W. Literature: CARL GUTHERZ: POETIC VISION AND ACADEMIC IDEALS, eds. Marilyn Masler and Marina Pacini (Memphis, TN: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 2009), no. 35. Artist Biography: Guthers, who was born in Switzerland, emigrated as a child to the U.S. in 1851. He lived with his family in Memphis, Tennessee, through the Civil War and then studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and the Academie Julian, as well as in Munich, Brussels, and Rome. In 1875 moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught at Washington University and helped establish the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts. Gutherz continued to take portrait commissions from Memphis, however, and even designed costumes and floats for the annual Memphis Mardi Gras. In 1884 he returned to Paris, where he studied with Gustave Boulanger and Joseph LeFevre. Here, he became associated with the Symbolist movement and produced his most successful paintings including large allegorical works, often featuring Christian imagery. Back in the U.S. he was hired to create murals for institutions including the Library of Congress, the People’s Church of St. Paul Minnesota, and the Allen County (Indiana) Courthouse. A year before his death, he produced a design for an arts and sciences pavilion which was the basis for the development of the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, later the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Source: The Tennessee Encyclopedia.

PROVENANCE: Deaccessioned from the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art to benefit the acquisitions fund. 

CONDITION: Overall very good condition, canvas has been lined. With minor retouch primarily to sky, largest area 1 in x 1/2 in, upper right, and scattered throughout 9 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in area, upper left. See UV photography. With fine craquelure throughout. Frame with minor abrasions and losses.