4262 - Wilhelm Amandus Beer, attributed, Dancing Girl

Wilhelm Amandus Beer, attributed, Dancing Girl Oil study of a young lady in Russian traditional dress, holding a scarf, dancing in a lively pose in a summer landscape, slightly impasto painting, oil on canvas, mounted on board, c. 1900, incised signature ‘W. A. Beer’ in the lower right-hand corner, slight signs of ageing, framed, inner dimensions approx. 30.5 x 17.5 cm. Artist information: known as ‘Russen-Beer’, German painter and draughtsman (1837 Frankfurt am Main - 1907 Frankfurt am Main), received his initial artistic training from his great-uncle Anton Radl, studied from 1852 to 1863 at the Städel Institute in Frankfurt am Main under Jacob Becker, later under Eduard von Steinle, in 1861 he executed the frescoes at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne; further training in Antwerp and Paris; in 1879-80, together with Steinle, he painted the interior of the Frankfurt Opera House; undertook study trips, including through the Taunus, to Munich, Vienna and the Alps; he stayed at the Kronberg artists’ colony and visited Russia on several occasions, including a stay with Sergei Andreevich von Barysnikov in Smolensk; in 1880 he travelled to Italy, in 1895 in The Hague, Amsterdam and Brussels; settled in Frankfurt from 1870; head of the Master’s Studio for Painting at the Städel from 1897; appointed professor in 1899; sources: Thieme-Becker, AKL, Bötticher, Singer and the internet.