Chadwick Redmon
One of Gallery 19C’s finest pieces has found a new home at the Louvre National Art Museum in Paris.
Painted by portrait artist Johann Richard Seel when he was just 22 years old, “Portrait Of The Bloem Sisters” depicts Betty and Friderike Bloem resting in a greenhouse at Dusseldorf Academy in 1841. With Gallery 19C specializing in 19th-century European art, founder Eric Weider says they exhibited the Bloem’s portrait at TEFAF Maastricht in March earlier this year.
“It was featured as a centerpiece of our stand devoted to the Nazarenes and other early 19th-century German paintings,” Eric says. “The double portrait was greatly admired by visitors to the fair who were captivated by its originality. We are beyond thrilled that it has been acquired by the Louvre.”
Highlighting similar German portraits at the Louvre, paintings curator Come Fabre says it’s reminiscent of the famous Chassériau sisters, who were painted during the same period.
“This painting immediately catches the attention of the French audience, seduced by the magic and uncanny atmosphere of the effigy,” Come says. “The painting is an outstanding example of the German fantasy in the art of portraiture.”
You can learn more about “Portrait Of The Bloem Sisters” and other 19th-century pieces at Gallery19C.com.