Lot 944: Katherine Schmidt O/C Tabletop Still Life, Exhibited

Katherine Shubert-Kuniyoshi Schmidt (active/lived Rhode Island/New York/ Florida/Ohio, 1898-1978) oil on canvas still life painting depicting a cluster of green grapes that rest on a tabletop in a white porcelain bowl, set against a brown background, c. 1920s. Indistinctly signed lower left (visible primarily in U/V light), possibly in pen ink that has faded. Inscribed "Green Grapes" to stretcher. With undated Salons of America, Anderson Galleries exhibition label recording artist's name and address — listed as Daniel Gallery, 600 Madison Ave — affixed to stretcher. Housed in an older, possibly original painted wood frame. Sight: 14 3/8" H x 17 1/2" W. Framed: 18 7/8" H x 22" W. Note: Daniel Gallery operated at the listed Madison Avenue address from 1924 until 1932. Biographical note: "At age thirteen Katherine Schmidt persuaded her reluctant parents to allow her to attend Saturday classes at the Art Students League in New York. After completing high school she worked with Kenneth Hayes Miller at the League and there met Yasuo Kuniyoshi, to whom she was married for thirteen years. During the twenties and thirties Schmidt exhibited frequently in New York. Press reviews of her meticulously rendered still lifes and landscapes of the 1920s, and of subsequent portrayals of the homeless and unemployed, were generally favorable. Around 1939, however, Schmidt became dissatisfied with her work and refused solo exhibitions until 1961, when she accidentally discovered a motif that concerned her for the remainder of her life. Having thrown a crumpled paper towel on a table, she returned to find a 'beautiful piece of paper lying there.' In her late still lifes of discarded paper and dead leaves Schmidt continued to exhibit the mastery of descriptive realism that had characterized her early work." (Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum)

PROVENANCE: Ex-collection of Francis E. Faragoh

CONDITION: With surface grime or soiling plus several pinprick areas of white errant substance, primarily to the tabletop at lower left. Minor scattered abrasion to the frame.