Lot 320: John Alberts O/C, Portrait of a Woman

John Bernard Alberts, Jr. (Kentucky, 1886-1931) oil on canvas portrait of a woman who wears a white blouse and blue skirt, sitting with her elbows resting on the arms of a chair and looking pensively away from the viewer. Unsigned. Likely original molded giltwood frame with channeled edges and en verso, remnant of an old piece of paper inscribed “Deweese” in pencil. Sight: 28 in H x 21 in W. Frame: 35 in H x 28 in W. Biography: Louisville-born John Alberts attended the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he was mentored by Frank Duvenek, then the Boston Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Edmund Tarbell and Frank Benson. He also spent a year in Europe and was heavily influenced by 16th-century Dutch artists. Back in Kentucky, Alberts shared a studio with Paul Plaschke and became a sought-after painter of portraits and designer of stained glass windows. However, he became ill during his army service in World War I and was left bedridden until his death at age 45. His extant works are rare; some can be found in the collections of the Filson Historical Society and the Greenville County, SC, Museum of Art. (Sources: Alberts’s obituary, The Courier Journal Aug. 25, 1931; The Johnson Collection). 

PROVENANCE: By descent in the family of the artist. 

CONDITION: A few tiny scattered flakes to shoulders and background and some pinpoint size flakes to face; craquelure throughout; grime/uneven varnish in some areas. Old repair lower left corner, about 1 1/2 inches long. A few small losses to frame.