Art Institute of Chicago

Red-Haired Girl

Emil Nolde · 1919

Analyst brief

What the record supports

Emil Nolde's "Red-Haired Girl" is an oil on canvas painting created in 1919. Measuring 65.4 × 40 cm, the work was executed by the German artist and is now part of the Modern Art department at the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum acquired the painting in 2002 as a bequest from Mr. and Mrs. George H. Tagge.

The painting's provenance traces back to the Provinzialmuseum, Hannover, where it was held from 1924 to 1937. It was confiscated by the German government during the "Degenerate Art" campaign in 1937 and subsequently appeared on consignment to Bernhard A. Boehmer in 1941. It later passed through the hands of Dr. Lawrence K. Taylor and his mother, Beatrice Buford Taylor, before being acquired by George and Yvonne Tagge, who eventually donated it to the Art Institute.

"Red-Haired Girl" was exhibited in the notorious "Entartete Kunst" exhibition in Munich in 1937, where it was listed as "Mädchenkopf." It was also featured in the "Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany" exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago in 1991. The work has been discussed in several publications, including Martin Urban's 1990 catalogue raisonné of Nolde's oil paintings.

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Provinzialmuseum, Hannover, 1924–1937; confiscated by German government in “Degenerate Art” campaign, 1937. On consignment to Bernhard A. Boehmer, Güstrow, Germany, 1941. Dr. Lawrence K. Taylor, Miami, 1947–c. 1971 [Urban 1990]; by descent to his mother, Beatrice Buford Taylor, Miami, c. 1971; by descent to her daughter and son-in-law, George and Yvonne Tagge, Chicago and Carefree, Ariz., c. 1972–2002; given to Art Institute, 2002.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Munich, Archäologisches Institut, Entartete Kunst, July 19–November 30, 1937, no. 16012, as Mädchenkopf; traveled throughout Germany and Austria 1937–1941.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany, February 17–May 12, 1991; traveled to Art Institute of Chicago, June 22–September 8, 1991, pp. 58, (ill.), 59 (ill.), p. 322 (ill), fig. 343.

Literature

Published references

Victor Curt Habicht, Der Neidersächsische Kunstkreis (Hannover, 1930), p. 327 (ill.), fig. 173.
Provinzial-Museum Hannover, Katalog der Kunstsammlungen im Provinzial Museum zu Hannover (Berlin, 1930), vol. 1, pp. 276–7, no. 439.
Museum der Gegenwart: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Museen für neuere Kunst 2, (Berlin, 1931–2), p. 86.
Martin Urban, Emil Nolde, Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings (Hagerstown, 1990), vol. 2, no. 836, pp. 17, 193 (ill.), 619.

Comparables