Artwork
Hugo Reisinger
Hugo Reisinger is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Anders Zorn. It dates from 1907 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower right: i min verstad (in my studio) / Stockholm aug 1907 / Zorn
About this work
A well-dressed German-American collector sits for Anders Zorn in Stockholm in August 1907.
A well-dressed German-American collector sits for Anders Zorn in Stockholm in August 1907. Hugo Reisinger had emigrated to New York in 1883 and built a fortune in imports, married into the Busch brewing dynasty, and helped found Harvard's Germanic Museum. Zorn portrays him with hat, gloves, and cane against a dark interior, building form with the realist directness that made him a sought-after portraitist of Gilded Age industrialists.
Subject & Meaning
The painting is a portrait of Hugo Reisinger, a German-American businessman and art collector. Reisinger is depicted seated in a fauteuil, wearing a hat and formal attire including trousers, with a beard and moustache, and gazing directly at the viewer. The work's primary subject is Reisinger himself, rendered in a straightforward manner that emphasizes his status and dignity as a sitter.
No overt symbolic or allegorical elements are evident in the composition, which adheres to the conventions of formal portraiture of the period.
Technique & Style
Anders Zorn executed the portrait of Hugo Reisinger in oil paint on canvas, a standard medium and support for formal portraiture of the period. The painting measures 135.5 by 100.5 centimeters, a three-quarter-length format. The work depicts the sitter with a bearded, balding head and moustache, seated in a fauteuil and gazing directly at the viewer, wearing a hat and trousers. Specific condition or stylistic analysis is not provided in the cited records.
History & Provenance
The portrait was commissioned around 1907 by the sitter, Hugo Reisinger (1856–1914) of New York, and executed by the Swedish artist Anders Zorn in 1907. Upon Reisinger's death, the painting passed by inheritance to his son, Curt H. Reisinger (died 1964), also of New York. In 1957, Curt Reisinger gifted the work to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains in the collection.
Overview
This 1907 oil portrait by Swedish artist Anders Zorn depicts Hugo Reisinger, a prominent German-American businessman and art patron. Commissioned during Reisinger's visit to Stockholm, the painting captures him in formal attire, holding a hat, gloves, and cane. Zorn's characteristic direct brushwork defines the figure, reflecting his reputation as a sought-after portraitist of the era's influential figures. The work offers insight into both the sitter's status and the artist's distinctive style.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Anders Leonard Zorn was a Swedish artist who attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist.
