Bertha Wegmann Painting a Portrait is a 19th-century painting by Jeanna Bauck, from the late 1870s, showing Bertha Wegmann at work in their joint studio in Munich. It was acquired by the Nationalmuseum, in Stockholm, in 1930 from Ms. Toni Agnes Möller-Wegmann as a gift. The two artists also lived in the studio depicted in the painting. Painted using oil on canvas, the painting measures .
It is part of a series created by the two women which depicted one another, helping to break the norm of painters as male.Dinning, Margaret. Role of the artist. Eva Bonnier and Hanna Hirsch-Pauli in the Art Life of the 1880s. Dissertation Uppsala University. Stockholm 1999. pages. 53-86.
In 1880, Jeanna Bauck traveled to Paris, along with Bertha Wegmann, with whom she shared an art-studio. Bauck was admitted to the Paris Salon the same year. In a number of portraits of each other, Bauck and Wegman contributed to changing the view of women artists and broke the male-dominated norms of the artistic community.Gynning, Margareta. Konstnärsrollen. Eva Bonnier och Hanna Hirsch-Pauli i 1880-talets konstliv. Diss. Uppsala Universitet. Stockholm 1999. pages. 53-86. After a few years in Paris, Jeanna Bauck returned to Munich and started a school for women painters. Gynning, Margareta. Kapitel III. Konstnärspar kring sekelskiftet 1900. Utställningskatalog, nr.647, Nationalmuseum 2006. pages.81-83.
In the 1800s, a line was often drawn between the private and public life, with public life considered a male domain, while female activity was reserved for private life.Gynning, Margareta. Kapitel III. Konstnärspar kring sekelskiftet 1900. Utställningskatalog, nr.647, Nationalmuseum 2006. pages.78-79. The female world was perceived as static and unchanging, in comparison with male-dominated modern life, which happens in public. The traditional image of a woman was considered unchangeable, like nature. At this time, women who lived in the bigger cities were restricted from public life.Svanholm, Lise. Bertha Wegmann. De drogo till Paris. Nordiska konstnärinnor på 1880-talet. Utställningskatalog Liljevalchs. Stockholm 1988. pages.212-213.
Nordic female artists often painted themselves or others within their studios. In their portraits, the art studio symbolizes the never-ending opportunities of the art studio, but also the clear border created by the studio.Svanholm, Lise. Bertha Wegmann. De drogo till Paris. Nordiska konstnärinnor på 1880-talet. Utställningskatalog Liljevalchs. Stockholm 1988. pages.213-218. In contrast, they often chose not to depict the world outside.
Books Gynning, Margareta (1999). Det ambivalenta perspektivet: Eva Bonnier och Hanna Hirsch-Pauli i 1880-talets konstliv (avhandling). Stockholm: Bonnier. Libris 8345213. Gynning, Margareta, red (2006). Konstnärspar: kring sekelskiftet 1900. Nationalmusei utställningskatalog. Stockholm: Nationalmuseum. Libris 10100457. Svanholm, Lise. Bertha Wegmann. De drogo till Paris. Nordiska konstnärinnor på 1880-talet. Utställningskatalog Liljevalchs. Stockholm 1988.
References
External links Hirschsprungska samlingen, Köpenhamn Målningen i Nationalmuseums föremålsdatabas