Two (2) Carl Gutherz or Guthers (Tennessee/Missouri, 1844-1907) oil on canvas paintings, both studies for the artist’s monumental 1893 painting “The Evening of the Sixth Day.” 1st Item: A landscape painting with two nude figures, viewed from behind, who look out over an expansive sunset landscape. God the Father, with raised arms, appears in the sky at right. Unsigned. With three inventory stickers or labels affixed to verso. Housed in a linen mat. Unframed. Canvas: 12 1/4 in H x 16 in W. Mat: 17 in H x 22 3/4 in W. 2nd Item: A landscape painting with two nude figures accompanied by a sheep or goat who look up toward a sphere — the heavenly firmament — occupied by a group of angels. The moon or another celestial body hangs in the sky at left. Original canvas: 11 1/2 in H x 16 in W. Stretched canvas: 16 in H x 20 in W. Note: The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art identifies these as compositional studies for Gutherz’s “The Evening of the Sixth Day,” which depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and was sold by Case earlier this year (ref. Case Auctions Winter 2025 catalog, lot 214). Literature: The Evening of the Sixth Day is the focus of Kristin Schwain’s essay “Carl Gutherz’s Esoteric Art” in CARL GUTHERZ: POETIC VISION AND ACADEMIC IDEALS, eds. Marilyn Masler and Marina Pacini (Memphis, TN: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 2009) pp. 56-83. Artist Biography: “Gutherz, 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 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught at Washington University and helped establish the St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts. Guthers 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 by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art to benefit the acquisitions fund. 

CONDITION: Both items in overall very good condition. 1st item hinge-mounted with archival tape, with minor losses to lower corners. 2nd item is laid to canvas on a stretcher, with craquelure throughout,